Introduction to ROBOTICS

What is a robot?
Origin of the word “robot”
– Czech word “robota”– labor, “robotnik” – workman

Definition:
Random House Dictionary: A machine that resembles a human
being and does mechanical routine tasks on command.

Robotics Institute of American

A Robot (industrial robot) is a reprogrammable, multifunctional
manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or
specialized devices through variable programmed motions for
the performance of a variety of tasks.
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Therefore industrial robot can be defined in a break down as;

– Programmable

– Multi-functional manipulator

– Designed to move materials, parts, tools or special

devices

– Through programmed motions

– To perform many different tasks

Key Components of Robot

Power Source

Sensors Actuators
Controller
User interface

Manipulator
linkage
Base
The manipulator of an industrial robot consists of a number of
rigid links connected by joints of different types, controlled
and monitored by a controler/computer.
The link assembly is connected to the body, which is usually
mounted on a base (fixed or mobile)
To a large extend, the physical construction of a robot
resembles a human arm.
A wrist is attached to the arm.
To facilitate gripping or handling, a hand is attached at the end
of the wrist, this hand is called an end-effector.
The complete motion of the end-effector is accomplished
through a series of motions and positions of the links, joints,
and wrist.
Robot joints

Prismatic Joint: Linear, no rotation involved.

(Hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder)

Revolute Joint: Rotary

(electrically driven with stepper motor, servo motor)
Robot Coordinates

• Cartesian/rectangular/gantry (3P) : 3 cylinders joint

• Cylindrical (R2P) : 2 Prismatic joint and 1 revolute joint
• Spherical (2RP) : 1 Prismatic joint and 2 revolute joint
• Articulated/anthropomorphic (3R) : All revolute(Human arm)
• Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA):
2 paralleled revolute joint and 1 additional prismatic joint
Robots degrees of freedom
Degrees of Freedom: Number of independent position
variables which would has to be specified to locate all parts
of a mechanism. It indicate robot movement capabilities.
In most manipulators this is usually the number of joints.

1 D.O.F. 2 D.O.F. 3 D.O.F.

a) Manipulator / Rover

This is the main body of the Robot and consists of links, joints
and structural elements of the Robot.
b) End Effector
The end effector enables the robot to accomplish a specific
task.
Two categories of end effectors are;
• Grippers.
• Tools.
Grippers are end effectors used to grasp and manipulate
objects during the work cycle
Tools are used where the robot must perform some processing
operation on the part. Available robot tools are;

•Spot welding gun.

•Arc welding tool.

•Spray painting gun.

•Rotating spindle for drilling, grinding etc.

•Assembly tool (e.g. automatic screw driver)

•Heating torch.
c) Actuators:

Actuators are the muscles of the manipulators. Common types

of actuators are servomotors, stepper motors, pneumatic
cylinders etc.

d) Sensors :
Sensors are used to collect information about the internal state
of the robot or to communicate with the outside
environment. Robots are often equipped with external
sensory devices such as a vision system, touch and tactile
sensors etc which help to communicate with the
environment
e) Power source (The food)
Power supply provides and regulates the energy that is
converted to motion by the robot actuator. It may be either;

• Electric,

• Pneumatic or

• Hydraulic
Three power sources

Hydraulic Joints are actuated by hydraulic drivers (Linear pistons and rotary vane
actuators)
drive Major disadvantages
Floor is used by the installation of hydraulic system
Leaks may seen often and cause messy floor
Advantages
Due to the speed and power, they are used in large industrial robots
Suitable in the environments where electric-driven robots might cause
fire etc.

Electric Use electric motors as joint actuators, for less power and slower speed
compared to hydraulic.
Drive Most common robot types in the industry for relative accuracy
Commonly stepper motors and Direct current (DC) servo-motor driven

Pneumatic Usually are simple and less cycle times, installed to small robots used in
simple material transfer applications.
Drive Tends to have less degrees of freedom
Less expensive, Since most of the robot parts are commercially
available, small institution can build their own robots
f) Controller :

Provide necessary intelligence to control the manipulator or

mobile robot
Process the sensory information and compute the control
commands for the actuators to carry out specified tasks
Robot controllers can be classified into four categories:

• Limited sequence control.

• Point-to-point control.
• Continuous path control.
• Intelligent control.

Limited sequence control: Uses mechanical stops to provide

the extreme ranges of motion, the joint is driven until the
mechanical stop is reached. This technique is no longer
used.
Point-to-point control.
Involves the specification of the starting point and end point
(and often intermediate points) of the robot motion
requiring a control system which renders some feedback at
those points.
This technique is used for spot welding, pick-and-place
operations and so on.

Continuous Path Control:

Requires the robot end effector to follow a stated path from
the starting point to the end point.
This technique is required in many applications that require
the actual tracing of a contour, for instance, in arc welding
or spray painting.
Intelligent Control

An intelligent robot is one that exhibits behavior that makes it

seem intelligent. Some of the characteristics that make a
robot appear intelligent include the capacity to :
• Interact with its environment.
• Make decisions when things go wrong during the work
cycle.
• Make computations during the motion cycle.
• Respond to advanced sensor inputs such as machine vision.
Industrial Robot Applications
The general characteristics of industrial work situations that
tend to promote the substitution of robots for human labor
are the following:

• Hazardous work environment for human.

• Repetitive work cycle.
• Difficult handling for human.
• Multishift operation.
• Infrequent changeover
• Part position and orientation are established in the work cell
In manufacturing industries Robots are most used for;

• Material handling
• Material transfer
• Machine loading and/or unloading
• Spot welding
• Continuous arc welding
• Spray coating
• Assembly
• Inspection
Advantages & Disadvantages of Robots
Advantages
• Increase product quality
– Superior Accuracies (thousands of an inch, wafer
handling: microinch)
– Repeatable precision → Consistency of products

• Increase efficiency
– Work continuously without fatigue
– Need no vacation

• Increase safety
– Operate in dangerous environment
– Need no environmental comfort – air conditioning, noise
protection, etc
Advantages cont…

• Reduce Cost
– Reduce scrap rate
– Lower in-process inventory
– Lower labor cost

• Reduce manufacturing lead time

– Rapid response to changes in design

• Increase productivity
– Value of output per person per hour increases
Disadvantages
• Robots lack capability to respond in emergencies.

• Robots have limited capabilities in degree of freedom,

dexterity, sensors, vision system and real time response.

• Robots are costly, due to;

- Initial cost of equipment,
- Installation costs,
- Need for peripherals,
- Need for training,
- Need for programming.
All the best on your