Industrial Robotics
Sections:
1. Robot Anatomy
2. Robot Control Systems
3. End Effectors
Industrial Robotics
4. Industrial Robot Applications
5. Robot Programming
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Industrial Robot Defined
A general-purpose, programmable machine possessing
certain anthropomorphic characteristics
• Hazardous work environments
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• Repetitive work cycle
• Consistency and accuracy
• Difficult handling task for humans
• Multishift operations
• Reprogrammable, flexible
• Interfaced to other computer systems
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Robot Anatomy
• Manipulator consists of joints and links
Joint3 Link3
– Joints provide relative motion
– Links are rigid members between End of Arm
joints
– Various joint types: linear and rotary
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Link2
– Each joint provides a “degree-of-
freedom” Link1
– Most robots possess five or six
degrees-of-freedom Joint2
• Robot manipulator consists of two Joint1
sections:
– Body-and-arm – for positioning of Link0
Base
objects in the robot's work volume
– Wrist assembly – for orientation of
3
objects
Manipulator Joints
• Translational motion
– Linear joint (type L)
– Orthogonal joint (type O)
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• Rotary motion
– Rotational joint (type R)
– Twisting joint (type T)
– Revolving joint (type V)
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Joint Notation Scheme
• Uses the joint symbols (L, O, R, T, V) to designate joint
types used to construct robot manipulator
• Separates body-and-arm assembly from wrist
assembly using a colon (:)
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• Example: TLR : TR
• Common body-and-arm configurations …
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More Complex Joints
• 3 DOF joints
– Gimbal
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– Spherical
(doesn’t possess
singularity)
• 2 DOF joints
– Universal
Human Joints
• Human joints are actually much more complicated
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Human Joints
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Polar Coordinate
Body-and-Arm Assembly
• Notation TRL:
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• Consists of a sliding arm (L joint) actuated relative to the
body, which can rotate about both a vertical axis (T joint)
and horizontal axis (R joint)
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Cylindrical Body-and-Arm Assembly
• Notation TLO:
• Consists of a vertical column,
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relative to which an arm
assembly is moved up or down
• The arm can be moved in or out
relative to the column
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Cartesian Coordinate
Body-and-Arm Assembly
• Notation LOO:
• Consists of three sliding
joints, two of which are
orthogonal
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• Other names include
rectilinear robot and x-y-z
robot
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Jointed-Arm Robot
• Notation TRR:
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SCARA Robot
• Notation VRO
• SCARA stands for
Selectively Compliant
Assembly Robot Arm
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• Similar to jointed-arm robot
except that vertical axes
are used for shoulder and
elbow joints to be
compliant in horizontal
direction for vertical
insertion tasks
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Wrist Configurations
• Wrist assembly is attached to end-of-arm
• End effector is attached to wrist assembly
• Function of wrist assembly is to orient end effector
– Body-and-arm determines global position of end
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effector
• Two or three degrees of freedom:
– Roll
– Pitch
– Yaw
• Notation :RRT
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Example
• Sketch following manipulator configurations
• (a) TRT:R, (b) TVR:TR, (c) RR:T.
Solution:
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R
R
T T R
R T
R
R V
T T
(a) TRT:R (b) TVR:TR (c) RR:T 15
Joint Drive Systems
• Electric
– Uses electric motors to actuate individual joints
– Preferred drive system in today's robots
• Hydraulic
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– Uses hydraulic pistons and rotary vane actuators
– Noted for their high power and lift capacity
• Pneumatic
– Typically limited to smaller robots and simple
material transfer applications
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Joint Drive Systems
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Robot Control Systems
• Limited sequence control – pick-and-
place operations using mechanical stops
to set positions
• Playback with point-to-point control –
records work cycle as a sequence of
points, then plays back the sequence
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during program execution
• Playback with continuous path control
– greater memory capacity and/or
interpolation capability to execute paths (in
addition to points)
• Intelligent control – exhibits behavior that
makes it seem intelligent, e.g., responds to
sensor inputs, makes decisions, 18
communicates with humans
Robot Control System
Cell Level 2
Supervisor
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Controller Level 1
& Program
Joint 1 Joint 2 Joint 3 Joint 4 Joint 5 Joint 6 Sensors Level 0
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End Effectors
• The special tooling for a robot that enables it to
perform a specific task
• Two types:
– Grippers – to grasp and manipulate objects
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(e.g., parts) during work cycle
– Tools – to perform a process, e.g., spot
welding, spray painting
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Grippers and Tools
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Work Space vs. Configuration Space
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Work Space vs. Configuration Space
• Work space
– The space in which the object exists
– Dimensionality
• R3 for most things, R2 for planar arms
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• Configuration space
– The space that defines the possible object
configurations
– Degrees of Freedom
• The number of parameters that necessary and
sufficient to define position in configuration
Industrial Robot Applications
1. Material handling applications
– Material transfer – pick-and-place, palletizing
– Machine loading and/or unloading
2. Processing operations
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– Welding
– Spray coating
– Cutting and grinding
3. Assembly and inspection
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Robotic Arc-Welding Cell
• Robot performs
flux-cored arc
welding (FCAW)
operation at one
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workstation while
fitter changes
parts at the other
workstation
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Robot Programming
• Lead through programming
– Work cycle is taught to robot by moving the
manipulator through the required motion cycle and
simultaneously entering the program into
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controller memory for later playback
• Robot programming languages
– Textual programming language to enter
commands into robot controller
• Simulation and off-line programming
– Program is prepared at a remote computer
terminal and downloaded to robot controller for
execution without need for lead through methods26
Lead through Programming
1. Powered lead through
– Common for point-
to-point robots
– Uses teach pendant
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2. Manual lead through
– Convenient for
continuous path
control robots
– Human programmer
physical moves
manipulator
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Lead through Programming
Advantages
• Advantages:
– Easily learned by shop
personnel
– Logical way to teach a robot
– No computer programming
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• Disadvantages:
– Downtime during
programming
– Limited programming logic
capability
– Not compatible with
supervisory control
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Robot Programming
• Textural programming languages
• Enhanced sensor capabilities
• Improved output capabilities to control external
equipment
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• Program logic
• Computations and data processing
• Communications with supervisory computers
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Coordinate Systems
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World coordinate system Tool coordinate system
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Motion Commands
MOVE P1
HERE P1 - used during lead through of manipulator
MOVES P1
DMOVE(4, 125)
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APPROACH P1, 40 MM
DEPART 40 MM
DEFINE PATH123 = PATH(P1, P2, P3)
MOVE PATH123
SPEED 75
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Interlock and Sensor Commands
Interlock Commands
WAIT 20, ON
SIGNAL 10, ON
SIGNAL 10, 6.0
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REACT 25, SAFESTOP
Gripper Commands
OPEN
CLOSE
CLOSE 25 MM
CLOSE 2.0 N
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Simulation and Off-Line
Programming
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Example
A robot performs a loading and unloading operation for a
machine tool as follows:
– Robot pick up part from conveyor and loads into machine (Time=5.5
sec)
– Machining cycle (automatic). (Time=33.0 sec)
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– Robot retrieves part from machine and deposits to outgoing conveyor.
(Time=4.8 sec)
– Robot moves back to pickup position. (Time=1.7 sec)
Every 30 work parts, the cutting tools in the machine are
changed which takes 3.0 minutes. The uptime
efficiency of the robot is 97%; and the uptime efficiency
of the machine tool is 98% which rarely overlap.
Determine the hourly production rate.
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Solution
Tc = 5.5 + 33.0 + 4.8 + 1.7 = 45 sec/cycle
Tool change time Ttc = 180 sec/30 pc = 6 sec/pc
Robot uptime ER = 0.97, lost time = 0.03.
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Machine tool uptime EM = 0.98, lost time = 0.02.
Total time = Tc + Ttc/30 = 45 + 6 = 51 sec = 0.85 min/pc
Rc = 60/0.85 = 70.59 pc/hr
Accounting for uptime efficiencies,
Rp = 70.59(1.0 - 0.03 - 0.02) = 67.06 pc/hr
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