Robots
The industrial robot is used in the manufacturing environment to increase productivity . It can be used to do routine and tedious assembly line jobs , or it can perform jobs that might be hazardous to do routine
and tedious assembly line jobs , or it can perform jobs that might be hazardous to the human worker . For example , one of the first industrial robots was used to replace the nuclear fuel rods in nuclear power plants . A human doing this job might be exposed to harmful amounts of radiation . The industrial robot can also operate on the assembly line , putting together small components , such as placing electronic components on a printed circuit board . Thus , the human worker can be relieved of the routine operation of this tedious task . Robots can also be programmed to defuse bombs , to serve the handicapped , and to perform functions in numerous applications in our society .
The robot can be thought of as a machine that will move an end-of-arm tool , sensor , and gripper to a preprogrammed location . When the robot arrives at this location , it will perform some sort of task . This task could be welding , sealing , machine loading , machine unloading , or a host of assembly jobs . Generally , this work can be accomplished without the involvement of a human being , except for programming and for turning the system on and off .
The basic terminology of robotic systems is introduced in the following :
1. A robot is a reprogrammable , multifunctional manipulator designed to move parts , materials , tools , or special devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of different task . This basic definition leads to other definitions , presented in the following paragraphs , that give a complete picture of a robotic system .
2. Preprogrammed locations are paths that the robot must follow to accomplish work . At some of these locations , the robot will stop and perform some operation , such as assembly of parts , spray painting , or welding . These preprogrammed locations are stored in the robot’s memory and are recalled later for continuous operation . Furthermore , these preprogrammed locations , as well as other program data , can be changed later as the work requirements change . Thus , with regard to this programming feature , an industrial robot is very much like a computer , where data can be stored and later recalled and edited .
3. The manipulator is the arm of the robot . It allows the robot to bend , reach , and twist . This movement is provided by the manipulator’s axes , also called the degrees of freedom of the robot . A robot can have from 3 to 16 axes . The term degrees of freedom of freedom will always relate to the number of axes found on a robot .
