Introduction to Robotics Arm

In this course, students will be introduced to the basics of Robotic Arms, their evolution
through time, as well as their applications.

This is an entry course to Robotic Arms and it will help you get a fundamental understanding
of their kinematics, configurations, control, and different use cases. By the end of the course,
you will have mastered the following:
Basics of Robotic Arms and their Evolution

Structure, Kinematics and Control of Robotic Arms

Configurations of Robotic Arms
Types of End Effectors
Applications of Robotic Arms
Market of Robotic Arms
Robotic arms are often used as the "stepping stone" to industrial robotics and automation. A
robotic arm is a kind of mechanical arm, which can usually be programmed to attain
manipulation capabilities similar to that of a human arm, or to perform tasks even more
efficiently than humans.

A robotic arm has a mechanical structure that alters its form using a group of actuators, such
as servo motors, pneumatic, or hydraulic actuators. An industrial robotic arm or industrial
robot, as it is also called for brevity, has six joints and closely resembles a human arm - it has
the equivalent of a shoulder, an elbow and a wrist. Typically, the shoulder is mounted to a
stationary base structure rather than to a movable body. This type of robot has six degrees of
freedom, meaning it can pivot in six different ways. A human arm, by comparison, has seven
degrees of freedom.
Robotics Arm Evolution :
The first Robotic Arm

The first robotic arm was arguably Unimate, an American arm that brought robotics to
their first home on automotive production lines, and its creator Joseph Engelberger is
widely considered the father of the robotics industry itself. From 1956 to 1959, Engelberger
and George Devol, worked on their first prototype of an automated Programmed Article
Transfer device (a patent that Engelberger already had pending by the time he met Devol).
The result, Unimate #0001, is generally recognized as the first industrial robot. The arm
went on to revolutionize the manufacturing industry after its first adoption by General
Motors. The first robotic arm was installed at the General Motors plant in Ewing Township,
New Jersey in 1962.
The Stanford Arm

In 1969, Victor Scheinman at Stanford University

invented the Stanford arm. This 6 degree of freedom
(6-dof) all-electric mechanical manipulator was one of
the first robots designed exclusively for computer
control. This allowed it accurately to follow arbitrary
paths in space and widened the potential use of the
robot to more sophisticated applications such as
assembly and welding. The Stanford Arm helped to
develop the knowledge base which has been applied
in essentially all the industrial robots of today.
 Industrial Robotics

Industrial robotics took off quite quickly in Europe. ABB

Robotics (formerly ASEA) introduced IRB 6, among the
world's first commercially available all electric micro-
processor controlled robot. The first two IRB 6 robots
were sold to Magnusson in Sweden for grinding and
polishing pipe bends and were installed in production
in January 1974.

In 1973, KUKA Robotics built its first robot, known as

'FAMULUS', also one of the first articulated robots to
have six electromechanically driven axes. Interest in
robotics increased in the late 1970s and many US
companies entered the field, including large firms like
General Electric and General Motors. Only a few non-
Japanese companies ultimately managed to survive in
this market.
The Assembly Line

After Henry Ford invented the assembly line, the construction of automobiles, cars and trucks
remained unchanged throughout most of the 20th century. The use of robots to aid in
industrialization weren’t fully realized until the 1980s, when robotic arms began to be
integrated in automobile and other manufacturing assembly lines.
Robots were initially retained to perform precise welding chores and other repetitive tasks
that humans had long found boring, monotonous and injurious. By using robots to weld,
handle dangerous objects and place items, auto manufacturers were able to ensure a
consistent product with a minimum of worker injury. Currently, 50% of all robots in use today
are used in automobile manufacturing.
Robotics Arm
Structure

A robotic arm is made up of a sequence of link and joint combinations. The links are the rigid
members connecting the joints. The joints (also called axes) are the movable components of
the robotic arm that cause relative motion between adjacent links. As shown in the figure,
there are five principal types of mechanical joints used to construct a robotic arm. Two of the
joints are linear, in which the relative motion between adjacent links is translational, and
three are rotary types, in which the relative motion involves rotation between links.
A common robotic arm consists of three parts:
Shoulder
Elbow
Wrist
These are all joints, with the shoulder resting at the
base of the arm which is typically connected to the
controller, and it can move forward, backward or
spin. The elbow is in the middle and allows the
upper section of the arm to move forward or
backward independently of the lower section.
Finally, the wrist is at the very end of the upper
arm and attaches to the end effector, most
commonly involving a gripper.

The end effector acts as the hand of the robotic

arm. It is often composed of two claws, though
sometimes three, that can open or close on
command. It can also spin on the wrist, making
maneuvering material and equipment easy
Robot Arm Kinematics : The study of moving bodies and parts is called Kinematics. In
robotics, we use kinematics to facilitate the discussion of the pose
and also velocity of robots, parts of robots (sensors, arms, joints,
and end effectors) , and objects of interest.

Forward Kinematics
Forward kinematics is the method for determining the orientation and position of
the end effector, given the joint angles and link lengths of the robot arm.
The following figure shows forward kinematics of a robotic arm.
Inverse Kinematics
Inverse kinematics is the opposite of forward kinematics. This is when you have a desired end effector
position, but need to know the joint angles required to achieve it. The robotic arm sees a ball and wants to
grab it, what angles should each joint go to? Although way more useful than forward kinematics, this
calculation is much more complicated too

The following figure shows inverse kinematics for a 2-joint

robotic arm.
Arm Control Methods :

PC Control: This Direct Control: Wireless Control: Standalone: A Serial Control: This
allows the robotic This controls the This allows you to standalone robotic controls the robotic
arm to be robotic arm control the arm functions arm using a serial
controlled via directly from robotic arm without a computer packet protocol. A
computer. This sensors wirelessly - or additional serial packet can be
may be as simple connected usually by microcontroller. It sent from a variety
as issuing directly to the replacing the relies on the of devices ranging
commands in the robotic arm’s serial connection microcontroller from computers to
Arduino Serial control board. with wireless board and sensors microcontrollers.
Monitor or as Usually this connectivity connected directly This method is a
complex as a allows the user to modules. to it. A computer will great place to start
custom directly control be required to setup with if you want to
application like the robot via and program the control the robot
the Arm Link sensors. robot, but after that dynamically from
Software. no computer will be another device.
required.
Arm Frameworks :
ROS (Robot Operating System) is an open source framework for writing robot software. It provides common
robot-specific libraries and tools. Some examples of libraries are Robot Geometry Library which keeps track of
where different parts of the robot are with respect to each other, Robot Description Language, Diagnostics,
Pose Estimation, Localization, and Navigation. ROS provides powerful integration with other open source
libraries such as OpenCV, MoveIt, Gazebo, ROS-Industrial, and PCL (Point Cloud Library).

ROS
Gazebo
Gazebo is a free open source 3D Robot Simulator. It offers the ability to accurately and efficiently simulate
populations of robots in complex indoor and outdoor environments and provides realistic rendering of
environments including high-quality lighting, shadows, and textures.
Movelt
MoveIt! is state of the art software for mobile manipulation, incorporating the latest advances in motion
planning, manipulation, 3D perception, kinematics, control and navigation. It provides an easy-to-use
platform for developing advanced robotics applications, evaluating new robot designs and building integrated
robotics products for industrial, commercial, R&D and other domains. MoveIt! provides us the plan that the
joints have to follow to move an arm from one position to another. The following animation shows you how
the planned trajectory will look like when executed by the robot.
Arm Configuration :
Cartesian / Gantry
Three prismatic joints, whose axes are coincident with a Cartesian coordinator. Mainly used for pick and place
work, application of sealant, assembly operations, handling machine tools and welding.
Cylindrical
One rotational and two prismatic joints, whose axes form a cylindrical coordinate system. Principally used for
assembly operations, handling machine tools, welding, and handling spraying machines.
Sperical / Polar
Two rotational and one prismatic joints, whose axes form a polar coordinate system. Mainly used for handling
machine tools, welding, and operating machines.
SCARA
Two rotational and one prismatic joints to provide compliance in a plane. Principally used for pick and place
work, application of sealant, assembly operations and handling machine tools.
Articulated
Three rotational joints. Mainly used for assembly operations, operating machines, welding and spray painting
Parallel
Three arms with concurrent prismatic or rotary joints for controlling the end effector. Mainly used for pick
and place work or as a mobile platform handling cockpit flight simulators
End Effectors Types : An end effector is the device at the end of a robotic arm, designed to
interact with the environment. The exact nature of this device depends on
the application of the robotic arm. An End effector is also known as End of
Arm Tooling (EOTA).

Force-torque sensors – they

are pucks installed between
the robot flange and the tool
that interacts with the part.
They measure the force and
torque that the robot
applies to the part through
the tool. They are used when
the force that the robot
applies needs to be
controlled. Typical
applications can be part
insertion, assembly,
deburring, sanding, etc.
Material Removal Tools –
they are used to remove
materials from a part. They
excel in material removal
tasks such as deburring, de-
flashing, edge-breaking,
surface finishing, and more.
Collision sensors – they are used to
prevent damaging the robot tooling
and the parts being processed. They
can disengage or send a signal to the
robot to stop at any moment when a
collision is detected.
Grippers – they are often
used with pick-and-place
robotic systems to pick up
Welding Torches – or place an object on an
they are very efficient assembly line, conveyor
end effectors that can system or other
be controlled in a automated system.
sophisticated way for
Tool Changers – they are used when
optimized welding.
many different end effectors need to be
Some torches also used in sequence by one robot. A tool
come with wire feeder changer in the head of the end-effector
allows it to be automatically detached
for an even better
and replaced with an identical end
control of the process. effector loaded with different tools.
Robotic Arm Applications :
1. Food Industry
2. Pick and place
3. Automation Manufacturing
4. Outer Space
5. Intelligence Home
6. Exploration
7. Military Robot
8. Farms
9. Hospital
10. Disasters Area
11. Entertainment

Robotic Arm Market
Industrial robotics market size is expected to grow from USD
48.7 billion in 2019 to USD 75.6 billion by 2024, at a Compound
Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.2% during the forecast period.
Technological advancements and decreasing costs
are making industrial robots more affordable to
SMEs and are enabling seamless integration and
programming.
For many years, the automotive sector has been
the primary driver of robot sales for
manufacturing activities. This dominance is
shifting rapidly. As per findings, the growth of the
industrial robotics market for the electronics
industry is now higher than for the automotive
industry.
The APAC region is expected to be the fastest
growing market compared to other regions. This is
primarily due to the presence of a large electrical
and electronics industry in Asia, coupled with
major regional industrial robotics players such as
FANUC (Japan), YASKAWA (Japan), and Mitsubishi
Electric (Japan). Developing countries in the APAC
region also offer a potential growth opportunity
for the market in the near future.
The food & beverage industry is expected to drive
the market in the next 5 years. With technological
advances in end effectors such as soft grippers,
applications for traditional industrial robots now
involve meat processing, handling of fruit and
vegetables, and pick-and-place of processed foods
besides packaging and palletizing. In tandem,
collaborative robots are also being increasingly
used in the food industry for collaborative
operations alongside human workers.