By Chilton Fernandes

 Automation: technology that is concerned

with the use of mechanical, electronic and
computer-based systems in the operation
and control of production.
 3 types:
 Fixed automation
 Programmable automation
 Flexible automation
 Fixed automation used when the volume of the
production is very high.
 Ex: Automobile industry
 Programmable automation is used when the
volume of production is relatively low and there are
a variety of products to be made.
 Products are made in batches
 Software automation type in which variety of
products of different shape, size, volume and
different batches can be made on the same
manufacturing machine by changing the
control software.
 Suited for mid volume production range.
 Ex. Robotics for drilling, painting, PNP
 Random House Dictionary A machine that
resembles a human being and does
mechanical routine tasks on command.
 Robotics Association of America An industrial
robot is a re-programmable, multifunctional
manipulator designed to move materials,
parts, tools, or specialized devices through
variable programmed motions for the
performance of a variety of tasks.
 Robotics is defined as that branch of
science/engineering which deals with the
study of different types of robots, their
designs, their analysis, their construction,
operation and is a form of industrial
automation.
 A manipulator (or an industrial robot) is
composed of a series of links connected to
each other via joints. Each joint usually has an
actuator (a motor for eg.) connected to it.
 These actuators are used to cause relative
motion between successive links. One end of
the manipulator is usually connected to a
stable base and the other end is used to
deploy a tool.
 Concerned with physical construction of the body,
arm and wrist of the machine.
 Robots are mounted on a base which is fastened to
the floor.
 Body attached to the base and arm attached to the
body.
 At the end of the arm is wrist.
 Joints provide movement between the body, arm
and wrist.
 Body arm and wrist are called as manipulators.
 Attached to robots wrist is the hand called as
end effector.
 •Manipulator
•Pedestal
•Controller
•End
Effectors
•Power
Source
Manipulator

• Base
• Appendages
Shoulder
Arm
Wrists
Pedestal
(Human waist)

• Supports the
manipulator.
• Acts as a
counterbalance.
Controller
(The brain)
• Issues instructions to
the robot.
• Controls peripheral
devices.
• Interfaces with robot.
• Interfaces with
humans.
 The heart of the robot’s controller is generally a
microprocessor linked to input/output and monitoring
devices.
 The commands issued by the controller activate the
motion control mechanism, consisting of various
controllers, amplifiers, and actuators. An actuator is a
motor or valve that converts power into robot
movement. This movement is initiated by a series of
instructions, called a program, stored in the controller’s
memory.
 The controller has three levels of hierarchical control.
 Hierarchical control assigns
levels of organization to
the controllers within a
robotic system.
 Each level sends control
signals to the level below
and feedback signals to the
level above.
 The levels become more
elemental as they progress
toward the actuator
 Level I—Actuator Control. The most elementary level at
which separate movements of the robot along various
planes, such as the X, Y, and Z axes, are controlled.
 Level II—Path Control. The path control (intermediate) level
coordinates the separate movements along the planes
determined in Level I into the desired trajectory or path.
 Level III—Main Control. The primary function of this highest
control level is to interpret the written instructions from the
human programmer regarding the tasks required. The
instructions are then combined with various environmental
signals and translated by the controller into the more
elementary instructions that Level II can understand.
End Effectors
(The hand)
• The end effector is the
robot’s hand, or the end-
of-arm tooling on the
robot.
• The area within reach of
the robot’s end effector is
called its work envelope.
• Spray paint attachments
• Welding attachments
• Hands Grippers
Power Source
(The food)
• Electric
• Pneumatic
• Hydraulic
 2 types of robot
 Mobile
 Stationary
 2types of robot motions
 rotary
 Prismatic/linear
 4 major type
 Cartesian/rectangular
 cylindrical
 Spherical/polar
 Articulated/jointed
 In a robot, the connection of different
manipulator joints is known as Robot Links,
and the integration of two or more link is
called as Robot Joints
 5 types
 Linear (L)
 Orthogonal (O)
 Rotational (R)
 Twisting (T)
 Revolving (V)
 Degrees of freedom (DOF) is a term used to
describe a robot’s freedom of motion in three
dimensional space—specifically, the ability to
move forward and backward, up and down,
and to the left and to the right.
 For each degree of freedom, a joint is
required. A robot requires six degrees of
freedom to be completely versatile
 The number of degrees of freedom defines the robot’s configuration. The
three degrees of freedom in the robot arm are the rotational traverse,
the radial traverse, and the vertical traverse.
 The rotational traverse is movement on a vertical axis. This is the side-
to-side swivel of the robot’s arm on its base.
 The radial traverse is the extension and retraction of the arm, creating
in-and-out motion relative to the base.
 The vertical traverse provides up-and-down motion.
 The three degrees of freedom in the wrist have aeronautical names:
pitch, yaw, and roll.
 The pitch, or bend, is the up-and-down movement of the wrist.
 The yaw is the side-to-side movement, and the roll, or swivel, involves
rotation.
 3 for major axes
 Used to position the
wrist in 3d spaces
 3 for minor axes
 Used to orient the tool
Robots increase productivity, safety, efficiency, quality, and
consistency of products.
 Robots can work in hazardous environments.
 Robots need no environmental comfort.
 Robots work continuously without experiencing fatigue.
 Robots have repeatable precision at all times.
 Robots can be much more accurate than human.
 Robots can process multiple stimuli or tasks simultaneously.
 Robots lack capability to respond in emergencies.
 Robots, although superior in certain senses, have limited
capabilities in Degree of freedom, Dexterity, Sensors, Vision
system, real time response.
 Robots are costly, due to Initial cost of equipment, Installation
costs, Need for Peripherals, Need for training, Need for
programming.
 Depends on:
 Accuracy with which the wrist must positioned.
 The weight of the object being manipulated
 Distance to be travelled
 Should be specified under the condition that
the robot’s arm is in its weakest position.
 The capability of the robot to move to the next
location in a short amount of time.
 Stability is defined as a measure of the
oscillations which occur in the arm during
movement from one position to the next.
 Stability can be controlled to a certain extent by
incorporating damping elements into the robots
design.
 small Damping
 large Damping
 Precision is defined as function of:
 Spatial resolution
 Accuracy
 Repeatability
 Assumptions
 First, the definition apply at the wrist end and no hand
attached to the wrist
 Second, the terms apply to the worst case conditions
 Third, definitions are developed in the context of point to
point robot.
 Smallest increment of movement into which the robot can
divide its work volume.
 2 factors:
 Systems control resolution
 Robot’s mechanical inaccuracies
 Defined as smallest incremental change in motion that can
be produced by the manipulator arm.
 Control resolution is determined by the robot’s position
control system and its feedback measurement system.
 The increments are referred to as addressable points.
Number of increments= 2n
 Robot with several degrees of freedom have control
resolution for each joint of motion.
 The total control resolution will depend on the arm
motion as well as the wrist.
 Mechanical inaccuracies in links and joints is the
other factor which contributes for spatial resolution.
 The inaccuracies come from load being handled, the
speed the arm is moving with, etc.
 Refers to a robot’s ability to position its wrist end at
a desired target point within the work volume.
 Accuracy can be defined in terms of spatial
resolution.
 Accuracy affecting factors:
 Accuracy varies within the work volume
 Accuracy improved if the motion cycle is restricted to a
limited work range.
 Load being carried by the robot
 Ability of the robot to position its wrist or an
end effector attached to its wrist at a point in
space that had previously been taught to the
robot.
 Refers to the displacement of the wrist end in
response to a force or torque exerted against
it.
 Compliance means the wrist is displace by
large distance with small force.