P age |1

LECTURE NOTES

ON

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

COURSE CODE ME504

B. Tech 5th semester

Prepared by

Mr. Deepak Kumar

Assistant Professor

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

KKCEM, GOVINDPUR, DHANBAD

 P age |2

MODULE-1

1.1 ROBITICS:-

"Robotics" is defined as the science of designing and building Robots which are suitable for real life application in
automated manufacturing and other non-manufacturing environments.

“OR”

Robotics is an applied engineering science that has been referred to as a combination of machine tool technology
and computer science and electrical and electronics technology. It includes machine design, production theory,
micro electronics, computer programming & artificial intelligence.

Advantages of Robotics:-
 More reliable.
 Increased flexibility.
 Low cost in long run.

1.2 LAWS OF ROBOTICS:-

Three basics law of Robotics proposed by Sir Issac Asimov.

First law: - A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second law: - A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with
the First Law.

Third law: - A robot must protect itself from harm unless that is in conflict with the First or Second Law.

1.3 Need for using robotics in industries:-

Industrial robot plays a significant role in automated manufacturing to perform different kinds of applications.

1. Robots can be built a performance capability superior to those of human beings. In terms of strength, size, speed,
accuracy etc.

2. Robots are better than humans to perform simple and repetitive tasks with better quality and consistence’s.

3. Robots do not have the limitations and negative attributes of human works .such as fatigue, need for rest, and
diversion of attention etc.

4. Robots are used in industries to save the time compared to human beings.

5. Improved working conditions and reduced risks.

1.4 Definition of Robot

 The origin of the word robot is the ‘robota’ meaning either slave or a mechanical item that would help its
master.
 An industrial robot is a reprogrammable multifunctioning manipulator designed to move materials, parts,
tools, or specialized devices through various programmed motion for the performance of a variety of tasks.
 P age |3

 An Industrial robot may also be defined as a number of rigid links connected by joints of different types
that are controlled and monitored by computer.

ROBOT ANATOMY AND STRUCTURE

The anatomy of robot is also known as structure of robot and it concerns with the physical construction and
characteristics of the body, arm, wrist which are components of the robot manipulator. Most robots are mounted on a
base. The body is attached to the base and the arm assembly to the body. At the end of arm there is a wrist &
consists of various joints which provides sliding and rotation motion. End effectors are attached to the wrist that
performs the work.

Robot Structure:-

It consists of:

1. ARM: The arm is the part of the robot that positions the end effectors and sensors to do their pre-programmed
task.

2. End effector: It is designed to perform the task like grasping, transporting, lifting etc. It also is used to perform
operations on work piece.

3. Actuator: An actuator is a device that produces translatory or rotary movement of the links or makes the freedom
possible. These are the drives for the manipulator, which connects the controller with manipulator.

4. Sensors: They perform two major tasks. One is to collect information about the different links, arms with their
status and other one is to inform controller about outside environment.

5. Controller: Controller coordinates the movement of the arm. The controller receives the input data from the
computer, controls the actuator motion and takes the feedback information through various sensors.
 P age |4

6. Drive: The three types of drive systems that are generally used for industrial robots are:

(i) Hydraulic drive (ii) Electric drive (iii) Pneumatic drive

 Hydraulic drive: It gives a robot great speed and strength. They provide high speed and strength, hence they
are adopted for large industrial robots.

 Electrical drive: This provides a robot with less speed and strength. Electric drive systems are adopted for
smaller robots.

 Pneumatic drive: Generally used for smaller robots.

LINK, JOINT AND DEGREE OF FREEDOM OF A ROBOTIC SYSTEM.

LINK: A Mechanical structure of a Robotic manipulator is formed by a rigid bar which having some relative
motion is known as rigid link of a robotic manipulator.

There are different types of link: Binary link, tertiary link etc.

JOINT: Links of a robotic manipulator are connected with the help of joint.
 P age |5

Generally two types of joints are used in robotic manipulator:

REVOLUTE (R) JOINT/ PIN JOINT- Two links are joined by a pin (pivot) about the axis of which
link can rotate with respect to each other.

 PRISMATIC (P) JOINT- Two links are joined in such a way that these can slide (linearly move)
with respect to each other. Ex- Screw and nut, rack and pinion arrangement etc.

DEGREE OF FREEDOM (DOF)

The number of independent motion/movement that an object can perform in 3-D space is called the number
of degree of freedom.
 P age |6

A Rigid body in a space having 6- DOF- Three for translation, and three for rotation.

These 6 Independent motion/ movement are pictured in the above figure:-

1. Three translations (T1 , T2, T3 ), representing linear motion along three perpendicular axis.
2. Three Rotations (R1, R2, R3), which represents angular motions about the three axis.

Classification of Robotics
P age |7
P age |8
P age |9
 P a g e | 10

SENSORS USED IN ROBOTICS

TYPES OF SENSOR:-

Robot sensors can be classified into two groups: Internal sensors and external sensors.

 Internal Sensor: Obtain the information about the robot itself. Ex- Position sensor, velocity sensor,
acceleration sensors, motor torque sensor, etc.
 External Sensor: Obtain the information in the surrounding environment. Ex- Cameras for
viewing the environment, Contact and proximity sensors etc.

1. Position sensor: A position sensor is any sensor that is used to measure the position of an entity for use in control
applications. Position sensors can measure both rotary and linear motion. They measure either absolute or relative
position. Robotic arms use position sensors and control to keep a running log of the arms location in three-
dimensional space. Ex- Optical encoder, Potentiometer etc.
 P a g e | 11

2. Velocity sensor: A velocity or speed sensor measures consecutive positions at known interval of time
and compute the rate of change of positions.

 Differentiate position: Use position sensors.

𝒅𝑿
𝑽=
𝒅𝑻

 Advantages: Simple, without using additional sensors.

 Disadvantages: noisy signals.

Ex- Tachometer, Piezoelectric sensor, Accelerometer sensor.

3. Touch and Proximity Sensors:

 To detect whether any object is close to a robot or touches a robot.

 Proximity sensor does not give distance, but only tells the existence of an object without any physical
contact.
 Advantage: Contactless sensing, Unaffected by surface conditions, Longer service life, High speed
response rate.
 Ex- Inductive Proximity Sensors, Capacitive Proximity Sensors, Ultrasonic Proximity Sensors, Infrared
(IR) Proximity Sensor.

4. Force and Torque Sensor:

Force sensors are an integral part of robotics research. They provide robots with the ability to interact with their
environments. They’re also used for safety purposes, to ensure that robots don’t harm anyone by applying too much
force.
Force sensors are designed to detect forces applied between their base and sensing plate. Force-Torque Sensors, also
known as FT Sensors, detect both forces and torques. They are usually placed on a robot’s arm, just before the end-
effector.
A force torque sensor detects the different forces that are applied on the robot wrist or tool in the 3 geometric axes
(X-Y-Z). The sensor also detects the torque applied around the 3 different axes. Which basically means that the
sensor feels what is going on in all axes. By doing so, the sensor gives feedback to the robot and can adapt its
motion to feel the minimum of force that is applied to it. Once the sensor is feeling an acceptable amount of force
torque, the robot can continue its motion without risk. Notice that some sensors can measure force on a specific axis
for a specific application. Most force torque sensors are installed at the robot flange or wrist to measure the effort
between the tool and the environment.

Types of force sensors:

1. Simple Pressure sensor.

2. Capacitive and Resistive Flexible Force Sensors.
3. Piezoelectric sensor.
4. Strain Gauge Based.
5. Capacitive FT Sensors.
 INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

UNIT-2

Grippers are end-effectors, which are used to grasp an object or a tool, e.g., a grinder, and hold it.
Grippers can be classified based on the principle of grasping mechanism. For example, grippers can
hold with the help of suction cups, magnets, or by other means. A gripper is then accordingly
referred to as pneumatic gripper, magnetic gripper, etc. Another way to classify a gripper is based
on how it holds an object, i.e., based on grasping the object on its exterior (external gripper) or
interior (internal gripper) surface.

Mechanical Grippers

Mechanical grippers have their jaw movements through pivoting or translational motion using (i)
Linkage; (ii) Gear and rack; (iii) Cam; (iv) Screw; and (v) Cable and pulley, etc.

The gripper can be of single or double type. While the former has only one gripping device at the
robot’s wrist, the latter type has two. The double grippers can be actuated independently and are
especially useful in machine loading and unloading.

A gripper uses its fingers or jaws to hold an object. The function of a gripper mechanism is to
translate some form of power input, be it electric, hydraulic or pneumatic, into the grasping action
of the fingers against the part.

Note that there are two ways a gripper can hold an object, i.e., either by physical constriction or by
friction. In physical constriction method, contacting surfaces of the fingers are made of
approximately the same shape of the part geometry, while in friction method the fingers must apply
sufficient force to retain the part against gravity or accelerations.

The final gripping action of the fingers is, however, achieved by one of the following means:

Pivoting Movement In this arrangement, the fingers rotate about fixed pivot points on the gripper
to open and close.

Translational Movement In the translational or linear motion, the fingers open and close by
moving parallel to each other.

Magnetic Grippers

The principle of a magnetic gripper is based on the magnetic property of a gripper. Hence, they can
be used only for ferrous objects. They have the following advantages:

1. Variations in object sizes can be tolerated.

2. Operations are very fast.

3. Require only one surface to hold an object.

The disadvantages with magnetic grippers are, however, the difficulty to pick thin sheets one at a
time because the magnetic force penetrates through more than one sheet.

Magnetic grippers can have either (i) permanent magnets, or (ii) electromagnets. While
electromagnetic grippers are easy to control requiring only a dc power source, grippers with
permanent magnets do not require any external power source to operate the magnets.

Vacuum Grippers

Such grippers are suitable to handle large flat objects. The material of an object is of no concern
with vacuum gripers, except that the object’s surface should not have any holes. An example of
vacuum gripper which uses suction cups made of elastic materials is shown in Fig. For a vacuum
gripper, lifting capacity can be determined from the negative pressure and the effective area of the
cups as 𝑭 = 𝑷𝑨 where F is the force or lift capacity, P is the negative pressure, and A is the total
effective area of the suction cups.
Adhesive Grippers

An adhesive substance used for a grasping action can be used to handle fabrics and other
lightweight materials. One of the limitations is that the adhesive substance loses its effectiveness
with repeated use.

Hooks, Scoops, and Others

There exist other types of gripping devices, e.g., hooks, scoops or ladles, inflatable devices, etc.,
based on the need of item to be handled.

Selection of Grippers:

1. One needs to decide the drive system. In fact, in an industrial scenario where electric and
pneumatic power sources are easily available, one needs to decide the type.

2. Object or the part surface to be gripped must be reachable by a gripper.

3.The size variation should be kept in mind. For example, a cast object may be difficult to put in a
machine chuck.

4. The gripper should tolerate some dimension change. For example, before and after machining a
work piece, their sizes change.

5. Quality of surface area must be kept in mind. For example, a mechanical gripper may damage the
surface area of an object.

6. Force should be sufficient to hold an object and should not fly away while moving with certain
accelerations. Accordingly, the materials on the surfaces of the fingers should be chosen.

Selection of robots based on application:

The important technical features that are to be noted before selecting a robot for an application are:

• Type of job

• Configuration

• Number of axes

• Drive system

• Programming method

• Control system
If the above features of a robot are well suited for the specified application, then the selection will
be the perfect for the operation.

For more details, here are some of the applications and technical features required for selecting a
robot.

Spot Welding Robot:

• A robot must be of jointed arm or polar configuration for performing this application.

• It must have five or six axes.

• It can have either electric or hydraulic drive system.

• It must be programmed in powered lead through method.

• It requires a point to point control system.

Spray Painting Robot:

• For this application, the jointed arm configuration robot will be the appropriate selection.

• The number of axes must be more than or equal to six.

• It must have a hydraulic drive system.

• Manual lead through programming method will be required.

• It must possess a continuous path control system.

Arc Welding Robot:

• This type of robot can be of Cartesian, jointed arm, or polar configuration.

• It must be incorporated with five or six axes.

• It must feature either electric or hydraulic drive system.

• It is capable of programming with Powered or Manual Lead through method.

• It must have a continuous path control system.

Machine Loading:

• To perform machine loading, a robot should be of either cylindrical, jointed arm,

or polar configuration.

• It requires only four or five axes.

• The drive system must be hydraulic for loading heavy weights. Otherwise electric type is
enough.

• The programming method needed for this operation will be powered lead through.

• As this is a simple process, it can have either point to point or limited sequence control
system.

Assembly Operation:

• The configuration of the robot must be Jointed Arm or Cartesian.

• The number of axes can be from three to six.

• It requires an electric drive system for this process.

• It must be capable of programming in textual languages or powered lead through method.