ELE8328:

INTRODUCTION TO ROBOTICS

Dr. Mustapha Muhammad

Department of Mechatronics Engineering
Bayero University, Kano
 Course outline

• Basic concept: Definition and origin of robotics, different

types of robots, various generations of robots, area of
application of robots, degrees of freedom, Asimov’s laws
of robotics, Dynamic stabilization of robots.

• Power sources and sensors: Hydraulic, pneumatic and

electric drives, Determination of HP of motor and gearing
ratio, variable speed arrangements, path determination,
machine vision, ranging, laser acoustic, magnetic, fiber
optic and tactile sensors
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 Course outline

• Manipulators, Actuators and Grippers: : Construction

of manipulators, manipulator dynamic and force control,
electronic and pneumatic manipulator control circuits and
effectors, various types of grippers, design
considerations.

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Basic concept
 Definition and Origin of Robotics
 Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction,
operation, and application of robots, as well as computer systems for their
control, sensory feedback, and information processing.
 The word robotics was derived from the word robot, which was introduced to
the public by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal
Robots), which was published in 1920. The word robot comes from the Slavic
word robota, which means labor.
 According to Robot Institute of America (1980), the official definition of robot
can be stated as follows:
“A robot is a programmable multifunction manipulator designed to
move material, parts, tools, or specialized device through variable
programmed motion for the performance of a variety of tasks.”

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 Definition and Origin of Robotics
 Nowadays, this definition would be considered too restrictive, as it reflects the
concentration of the RIA on robot manipulators on an assembly line.
 Robotics has broadened over the years in many ways:
 to include mobility platforms,
 to address the service sector as well as the manufacturing sector,
 and to incorporate man-machine interactions.
 For this reason more convenient is a broad definition:
“A robot is device that operates with some degree of autonomy, usually
under computer control”
 The concept of creating machines that can operate autonomously dates back to
classical times, but research into the functionality and potential uses of robots
did not grow substantially until the 20th century.

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 Definition and Origin of Robotics
 Fully autonomous robots only appeared in the second half of the 20th century.
 The first digitally operated and programmable robot, the Unimate, was installed
in 1961 to lift hot pieces of metal from a die casting machine and stack them.
 Today commercial and industrial robots are widely used to perform jobs more
cheaply, more accurately and more reliably, than humans.
 They are also employed in jobs which are too dirty, dangerous, or dull to be
suitable for humans.
 Robots are widely used in manufacturing, assembly, packing and packaging,
transport, earth and space exploration, surgery, weaponry, laboratory research,
safety, and the mass production of consumer and industrial goods.

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 Definition and Origin of Robotics
 Basically a robot consists of:
1. A mechanical device, such as a wheeled platform, arm, or other
construction, capable of interacting with its environment.
2. Sensors on or around the device that are able to sense the environment
and give useful feedback to the device.
3. Systems that process sensory input in the context of the device’s current
situation and instruct the device to perform actions in response to the
situation.

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 Definition and Origin of Robotics
 Some of the advantages of using industrial robots are:
 Reduced labor cost (Low energy cost).
 Increased Productivity (Increase output rates).
 Improved product quality.
 Increase precision (Reduced material wastage).
 Increased manufacturing flexibility (as compared to specialized machines).
 Elimination of dangerous or undesirable jobs.
 Easier to compliance with standard regulations.
 Reduced labor turnover.
 Lower capital cost.
 Controlled and faster inventory turnover.

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 Asimov’s laws of Robotics

 Isaac Asimov devised three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three
Laws or Three Laws).
 The rules were introduced in 1942.
 The Three Laws are:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human
being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where
such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not
conflict with the First or Second Law.

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 Degrees of Freedom in Robotics

 The degrees of freedom of a particular robot are determined from the number
of joints of the robot.
 Normally, a robot consists of a maximum of six independent degrees of
freedom that is 3 for positioning and 3 for orientation.

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 Types of robots

Many different robots exist in terms of applications, as well as locomotion and

kinematics

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 Types of robots by application

Robots can be classified according to their applications as follows:

 Industrial robots - Industrial robots are robots used in an industrial
manufacturing environment.
 Usually these are articulated arms specifically developed for applications such
as welding, material handling, painting and others.

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 Types of robots by application

 Domestic or household robots - Robots used at home.

 This type of robots includes many quite different devices such as robotic
vacuum cleaners, robotic pool cleaners, sweepers, gutter cleaners and others.

robotic vacuum cleaner robotic pool cleaner robotic sweeper

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 Types of robots by application

Medical robots - Robots used in medicine and medical institutions such as -

surgery robots.

surgery robot
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 Types of robots by application

 Military robots - Robots used in military.

 This type of robots includes bomb disposal robots, different transportation
robots, drones.
 Often robots initially created for military purposes can be used in law
enforcement, search and rescue and other related fields.

drone

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Types of robots by application

Bomb disposal robots

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 Types of robots by application

 Entertainment robots - These are robots used for entertainment.

 This is a very broad category.
 It starts with toy robots such as robosapien and ends with real heavyweights
such as articulated robot arms used as motion simulators.

robosapien

motion simulator

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 Types of robots by application

 Space robots - these robots are used for space application.

 This type include robots used on the International Space Station, such as
Canadarm that was used in Shuttles, as well as Mars rovers and other robots
used in space.

Candarm

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Types of robots by application

Mars rovers

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 Types of robots by application

 Hobby and competition robots – These are robots made just for fun and
robots made for competition such as Line followers, sumo-bots and others.

Line follower sumo-bots

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 Types of robots by Locomotion and Kinematics

Robots can be classified based on locomotion and kinematics as:

 Stationary robots
 Mobile robots

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 Stationary robots

Stationary robots are mostly industrial robots, which includes robotic arms and
manipulators with a global axis of movement.
Stationary robots can be categorized as:
 Cartesian
 Cylindrical
 Polar
 SCARA,
 Articulated and
 Parallel

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 Stationary robots

 Cartesian robot are also called rectilinear or gantry robots.

 The robots have three linear joints that use the Cartesian coordinate system (X,
Y, and Z).
 They also may have an attached wrist to allow for rotational movement. The
three prismatic joints deliver a linear motion along the axis.
 These robots are used for pick and place work, application of sealant, assembly
operations, handling machine tools and arc welding.

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 Stationary robots

 Cylindrical robots has at least one rotary joint at the base and at least one
prismatic joint to connect the links.
 The rotary joint uses a rotational motion along the joint axis, while the prismatic
joint moves in a linear motion.
 Cylindrical robots operate within a cylindrical-shaped work envelope.
 These robots are used for assembly operations, handling at machine tools, spot
welding, and handling at die-casting machines.

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 Stationary robots

 Polar robots are also called spherical robots

 In the configuration, the robotic arm is connected to the base with a twisting
joint and a combination of two rotary joints and one linear joint.
 The axes form a polar coordinate system and create a spherical-shaped work
envelope.
 These robots are used for handling machine tools, spot welding, diecasting,
fettling machines, gas welding and arc welding.

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 Stationary robots

 SCARA robots: Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm (SCARA) is

similar to Polar robot, but it has a rotational reach axis rather than a linear one.
 This robot is used for pick and place work, application of sealant, assembly
operations and handling machine tools.

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 Stationary robots

 Articulated robots: An articulated robot is a robot which is fitted with rotary

joints.
 Rotary joints allow a full range of motion, as they rotate through multiple planes,
and they increase the capabilities of the robot considerably.
 An articulated robot can have one or more rotary joints, and other types of
joints may be used as well, depending on the design of the robot and its
intended function.
 These robots are used for assembly operations, diecasting, fettling machines,
gas welding, arc welding and spray painting.

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 Stationary robots

 Parallel robots are robots whose arms have concurrent prismatic or rotary
joints.
 They are used in the food, pharmaceutical, and electronic industries,
 This robot configuration is capable of delicate and precise movement.

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 Mobile robots

 Mobile robots are robots that are capable of moving in a given environment.
 Mobile robots can be classified by driving mechanisms as:
 wheeled mobile robots
 legged mobile robots and
 treaded mobile robots.
 Mobile robots are used in various applications such as:
 transportation
 Entertainment
 planetary exploration
 Surveillance
 mining and
 military operations among others.

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 Wheeled mobile robots

Wheeled mobile robots navigate around the ground using motorized wheels.

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 Wheeled mobile robots

Two driving configurations are mostly used in today’s wheeled mobile robots –
steer drive and differential drive.
 The steer drive mobile robot uses two driving wheels to make the robot
move forward and backward.
 The orientation control is achieved by an independent steering mechanism.
 Since the driving action is independent of the steering action, the motion
control of the robot is simplified.
 However, due to physical constraints, this configuration cannot turn in a
very small radius.
 This shortcoming makes it less attractive in some industrial applications.

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 Wheeled mobile robots

 Differential drive mobile robots have two independent driving wheels

positioned at opposite sides of the robot base, arranged in parallel to one
another, in which their speed can be controlled separately.
 Thus, by appropriately controlling the speed of each driving wheel, this
mechanism is able to drive the robot forward and backward, as well as
steer its heading angle by differential speed commands.
 Even though this configuration requires complex control strategy than the
steer drive configuration, its capability of making small-radius turn, even
making turns on the spot, makes it the first choice in many industrial
applications.

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 Legged Mobile robots

 Legged mobile robots uses legs for locomotion.

 The primary advantages of legged robots include:
 Their ability to transverse rough terrain with good body stability and
 Minimal ecological damage.
 Control of legged robot is more difficult compared to wheeled mobile robots.

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 Treaded Mobile robots

The treaded mobile robots moves much like a battle tank.

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 Other types of mobile robot

Other types of robot that moves around an environment includes:

 Swimming robots

 Flying robots

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 Other types of mobile robot

 Swarm robots

 Snake robots

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 Generations of Robots

Robots can be categorized in to three generations:

 First generation robots
 Second generation robots
 Third generation robots

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 First Generation Robots

 First-generation robots are simple mechanical arms.

 These robots did not possess sensors and all control was through an open-loop
controller system.
 Hence the operation of these machines must be constantly supervised,
because if they get out of alignment and are allowed to keep working, the result
can be a series of bad production units.
 Example of first generation robot is Unimate.

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 Second Generation Robots

 Second-generation robot can adapt varying situations by the use of sensors

and closed loop servo controllers.
 The controller processes the data from these sensors and adjusts the operation
of the robot accordingly.
 Although these robots may know when something is wrong in the system, but
they required human intervention for correction.
 Examples of seconds generation robots are today’s industrial robots.

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 Third Generation Robots

 Third-generation robots are fully autonomous.

 They are equipped with vision system, better mobility systems and more
intelligent microprocessors coupled with voice recognition system.
 These robots are capable of making decisions and making corrections or
adjustments to manipulators.
 Examples of third generation robots are Mars rovers

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