By

-Dr.A.Tharakeshwar
-Professor in SOM, MIT-WPU.
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Syllabus
 Introduction
 Robot Anatomy
 Structure, Classification and Application
 links and joints of robots
 DOF of robot
 Introduction to Actuators
 Introduction to Sensors
 Introduction to Grippers

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Introduction to Robotics
 Robot Definition
• Word robot was coined by a
Czech novelist Karel Capek in a
1920 play titled Rassum’s
Universal Robots (RUR)
• Robot in Czech is a word for
worker or servant Karel Capek
• Definition of robot:
–Any machine made by by one our members: Robot Institute
of America
–A 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: Robot Institute of America, 1979
Types of Robots: I
Manipulator
 Types of Robots: II
Legged Robot Wheeled Robot
 Types of
Robots: III
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
 Robot Anatomy
 Robot as a system , consists of
 manipulator or rover,
 a wrist , an end-effector,
 Actuators and sensors,
 Controllers and processors
 software .

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 Robot Anatomy
 Manipulator / Rover : Main body of the Robot and
consists of links, joints and structural elements of the
Robot.
 Manipulator consists of links and joints
 Joints provide relative motion
 Links are rigid members between joints
 Various joint types: linear and rotary
 Each joint provides a “degree-of-freedom”
 Most robots possess five or six degrees-of-freedom

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 Robot Anatomy -Kinematic pairs or Joints
 A joint is an element which connects two or more links
/elements/rigid bodies
 Provides relative motion b/n the links
 Imposes constraints on the link it connects
 DOF of joint in space =6 – no of constraints imposed
 DOF of joint in Plane =3 – no of constraints imposed
 Types based on
 Nature of relative motion
 Nature of contact
 Nature of mechanical constraint

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 Robot Anatomy -Kinematic pairs or Joints

Identify one around

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 Robot Anatomy
 The wrist is oriented in a variety of positions
 End Effector :
 handles objects
 performs the required tasks
 It can vary in size and complexity from a end effector on the space
shuttle to a small gripper
 Actuators :
 Muscles of the manipulators
 servomotors, stepper motors, pneumatic cylinders etc.

 Sensors :
 Used to collect information about the internal state of the robot or to
communicate with the outside environment.
 Equipped with external sensory devices such as a vision system, touch and
tactile sensors

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 Robot Anatomy
 Controller :
 The controller receives data from the computer, controls
the motions of the actuator and coordinates these
motions with the sensory feedback information.

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 Robot Configurations
 Cartesian Coordinates Configuration
 Cylindrical Configuration
 Polar or Spherical Configuration
 Articulated or Jointed-arm Configuration
 Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA)
Configuration

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 Cartesian coordinate configuration
• Gantry Structure
• Made of 3 Linear joints
• Uses end effectors

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 Cylindrical coordinate configuration
• two prismatic joints
• one revolute joint.

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 Spherical or Polar configuration
• one prismatic joints
• two revolute joint.

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 Articulated or Joint-arm configuration
• Three revolute joint.

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 Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA)
Configuration

• One prismatic joints

• two revolute joint.

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 Work Volume

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 Activators and Drive systems
• Actuators are required to move joints, provide
power and do work.
• Serial robot actuators must be of low weight –
actuators of distal links need to be moved by
actuators near the base.
• Parallel robots – often actuators are at the base.
• Actuators drive a joint through a transmission
device
• Three commonly used types of actuators:
• Hydraulic
• Pneumatic
• Electric motors
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 Examples of activators

Pneumatic Cylinder

Hydraulic Motor Stepper Motor

DC Motor

Servo Motor
Pneumatic Motor
Muscle Wire
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 Examples of activators

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 Hydraulic Activators
• Early industrial robots driven by hydraulic actuators.
• Pump supplies high-pressure fluid (typically oil) to linear
cylinders, rotary vane actuators or hydraulic motors at the
joint!
• Large force capabilities.
• Large power-weight ratio – the pump, electric motor driving
the pump, accumulator etc. stationary and not considered in
the weight calculation!
• Control is by means of on/off solenoid valves or servo-valves
controlled electronically.
• The entire system – electric motor, pump, accumulator,
cylinders etc. – is bulky and often expensive – limited to ‘big’
robots.

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 Pneumatic Activators
• Similar to hydraulic actuators – working fluid is air.
• Similar to hydraulic actuators, air is supplied from a
compressor to cylinders and flow of air is controlled by
solenoid or servo controlled valves.
• Less force and power capabilities.
• Less expensive than hydraulic drives.
• Chosen where electric drives are discouraged or for safety
or environmental reasons such as in pharmaceutical and
food packaging industries.
• Closed-loop servo-controlled manipulators have been
developed for many applications.

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 Electric Activators
• Electric or electromagnetic actuators widely used
in robots.
• Readily available in wide variety of shape, sizes,
power and torque range.
• Very easily mounted and/or connected with
transmission elements such as gears, belts and
timing chains.
• Amenable for modern day digital control.
• Main types of electric actuators:
Stepper motors
Permanent magnet DC servo-motor
Brushless motors
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 Stepper Motors
• Used in ‘small’ robots with small payload and “low” speeds.
• Stepper motor are of permanent magnet, hybrid or variable
reluctance type.
• Actuated by a sequence of pulses – For a single pulse, rotor
rotates by a known step such that poles on stator and rotor
are aligned.
• Typical step size is 1:8◦ or 0:9◦.
• Speed and direction can be controlled by frequency of
pulses.
• Can be used in open-loop and maximum error is one step!
• Micro-stepping possible with closed-loop feedback control.
• Typically stepper motors have two phases.

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 Servo Motors
• Rotor is a permanent magnet and stator is a coil.
• Permanent magnets with rare earth materials (Samarium-
cobalt, Neodymium) can provide large magnetic fields and
hence high torques.
• Commutation done using brushes or in brushless motor
using Hall-effect sensors and electronics.
• Widely available in large range of shape, sizes, power and
torque range and low cost.
• Easy to control with optical encoder/tacho-generators
mounted in-line with rotor.
• Brushless AC and DC servo-motors have low friction, low
maintenance, low cost and are robust.

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 Examples

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 Transmission
• Purpose of transmission is to transfer power from source
to load.
• The purpose of a transmission is also to transfer power at
appropriate speed.
• Transmissions also convert rotary to linear motion and
vice-versa.
• Transmissions also transfer motion to different places
and to different direction
• Transmissions for robots must be (a)stiff, (b) low weight,
(c) backlash free, and (d) efficient.

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 Transmission
• Transmissions in robots are decided based on motion, load and
power requirements, and by the placement of motor relative to
the joint.
• Direct drives with motor directly connected to joint – has
advantages of low friction and low backlash but are expensive.
• Typical transmissions are
 Gear boxes of various kinds – spur, worm and worm wheel,
planetary etc..
 Belts and chain drives.
 Harmonic drive for large reduction.
 Ball screws and rack-pinion drives – to transform rotary to
linear motions.
 Kinematic linkages – 4-bar linkage.

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 Transmission

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 Sensors
• A robot without sensors is like a human being without eyes, ears,
touch.,etc.
 Sensor-less robots require costly /time consuming programming.
 Can perform only in “playback” mode.
 No change in their environment, tooling and work piece can be
accounted for.
• Sensors constitute the perceptual system of a robot, designed:
 To make inferences about the physical environment.
 To navigate and localise itself, and
 To respond more “flexibly” to the events occurring in its
environment.
 To enable learning, thereby endowing robots with “intelligence”
• Sensors allow less accurate modeling and control.
• Sensors enable robots to perform complex and increased variety
of tasks reliably thereby reducing costs

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 Sensors
• Sensor is a device to make a measurement of a physical variable
of interest and convert it into electrical form.
• Desirable features in sensors are
 High accuracy
 High precision
 Linear response
 Large operating range
 High speed of response
 Easy to calibrate
 Reliable and rugged
 Low Cost
 Ease of operation
• Broad classification of sensors in robots
 Internal state sensors
 External state sensors

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 Internal Sensors
• Internal sensors measure variables for control
 Joint position
 Joint velocity
 Joint torque/force
• Joint position sensors (angular or linear)
 Incremental & absolute encoders – optical, magnetic or capacitive
 Potentiometers
 Linear analog resistive or digital encoders
• Joint velocity sensors
 DC tacho-generator & Resolvers
 Optical encoders
• Force/torque sensors
 At joint actuators for control
 At wrist to measure components of force/moment being applied on
environment
 At end-effector to measure applied force on gripped object.
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 External Sensors
• Detection of environment variables for robot guidance, object
identification and material handling.
• Two main types – contacting and non-contacting sensors
• Contacting sensors: Respond to a physical contact
 Tactile/touch sensors – switches, Photo-diode/LED combination
 Slip sensors
• Non-contacting sensors: Detect variations in optical, acoustic or
electromagnetic radiations or change in position/orientation
 Proximity sensors – Inductive, Capacitive, Optical and Ultrasonic
 Range sensors – Capacitive and Magnetic, Camera, Sonar, Laser range
finder, Structured light
 Colour sensors
 Speed/Motion sensors – Doppler radar, Doppler sound, Camera,
Accelerometer, Gyroscope
 Identification – Camera, RFID, Laser ranging, Ultrasound
 Localisation – Compass, Odometer, GPS

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 Encoders
 Digital optical device that converts motion into
sequence of digital pulses
 Device for conversion of single or certain data into
code
 Data compression
 Data encryption
 Data translation
 Analog or digital devices

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 Types encoders
 Linear
 Linear distance moment into A/D signal
 Distance travelled, position, locations…etc
 Milling and drilling m/c
 Rotary
 Angular position to A/D signal
 Measuring angle or speed or velocity….etc

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 Rotary encoders
 Detects rotation angle, speed,…etc
 Mechanical, optical and Magnetic kinds
 Mechanical – resistance changes – potentiometer
 Optical – code wheel – light sensor
 Magnetic encoders – changes in magnetic field –
electric signal

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 Schematic diagram of Incremental encoders

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 Schematic diagram of AEs

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 Other joint rotation Sensors
• Potentiometers – voltage ∝ resistance and resistance ∝ rotation
at joint
 Not very accurate but very inexpensive.
 More suitable for slow rotations
 Adds to joint friction
• Resolvers – rotary electrical transformer to measure joint
rotation
 Analog output, need ADC for digital control
 Electromagnetic device – Stator + Rotor (connected to
motor shaft)
 Voltage (at stator) ∝ sin(θ ) – θ = rotor angle
• Tachometers measures joint velocity
 Similar to resolver
 Voltage (at stator) ∝θ_ – θ_ = angular velocity of the rotor
 Analog output → required ADC for digital control.
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 Touch Sensors
• Allows a robot or manipulator to
interact with its environment – to
“touch and feel”, “see” and “locate”.

• Two classes of external sensors –

contact and non-contact

• Simple – LED-Photo-diode pair used to

detect presence/absence of object to
be grasped

• Micro-switch to detect touch.

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 Slip Sensors
• Slip sensor – to detect if grasped object
is slipping
• Free moving dimpled ball deflects a
thin rod on the axis of a conductive
disk
• Evenly spaced electrical contacts
placed under disk
• Object slips past the ball – moving rod
and disk – electrical signal from
contact to detect slip.
• Direction of slip determined from
sequence of contacts.

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 Tactile Sensors
• “Skin” like membrane to “feel” the shape of the grasped object
• Also used to measure force/torque required to grasp object
• Change in resistance/capacitance due to local deformation
from applied force

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 Proximity Sensors

• Detect presence of an object near a robot or manipulator

• Works at very short ranges (<15-20 mm)
• Frequently used in stationary and mobile robots to avoid
obstacles and for safety during operation
• Four main types of proximity sensors
• Inductive proximity sensors
• Capacitive proximity sensor
• Ultrasonic proximity sensor
• Optical proximity sensors

Infrared Ranging Sensor

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 Range Sensors
• Measure distance of objects at larger distances
• Uses electromagnetic or electrostatic or acoustic radiation
– looks for changes in the field or return signal
• Highly reliable with long functional life and no mechanical
parts.
• Four main kinds of range sensing techniques in robots
• Triangulation
• Structured lighting approach
• Time of flight range finders
• Vision
• Applications: 1) Navigation in mobile robots, 2) Obstacle
avoidance, 3) Locating parts.

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 Vision Sensors
• Most powerful and complex form of sensing,
analogous to human eyes
• Comprising of one or more video cameras with
integrated signal processing and imaging
electronics
• Includes interfaces for programming and data
output, and a variety of measurement and In-Sight Vision
inspection functions. Sensors
• Also referred to as machine or computer vision
• Computations required are very large compared
to any other form of sensing
• Computer vision can be sub-divided into six main
areas: 1) Sensing, 2)Pre-processing, 3)
Segmentation, 4) Description, 5) Recognition
and 6) Interpretation
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 Tilt sensors

Tilt sensors: e.g., to balance a robot

Example

Tilt Sensor
Planar Bipedal Robot
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 A MILESTONE FOR SENSOR-BASED ROBOTICS

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 End effectors
• End-effectors are the grippers, tools, or other devices attached to the
robot's wrist that allow it to perform various tasks.
• In many systems, end-effectors are simple grippers that dose about
an object, allowing it to be picked up and handled.
• End-effectors can be quite advanced and have multi jointed fingers
or tactile sensors built in.
• Others serve as specialized tools.
• Gripper- Mechanical gripper, Suction or vacuum cups, Magnetized
gripper, Hookes, Scoopes or ladles, Adhesive or electrostatic
grippers.
• Part handling Grippers, Tool handling grippers, Specialized
grippers Tool
• Machine tools, Measuring instruments, welding torches, Laser and
water jet cutters

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 Grippers
• Grippers can be subdivided into mechanical, magnetic,
vacuum, adhesive, and inflatable, depending on how they grasp
an object.
• Although grippers may be supplied with the robot, they are
usually custom designed for the task (thus increasing robot
system cost) or purchased from a firm specializing in grippers.
• Robot grippers are the physical interface between a robot arm
and the work piece.
• This end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) is one of the most important
parts of the robot.
• One of the many benefits of material handling robots is the
reduction of part damage.
• A gripper comes in direct contact with product, so it's
important to choose the right type of gripper for operation.
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 Grippers
• Part handling grippers
• Used to grasp and hold object that require to transport
from one point to another.
• Machine loading & unloading
• Picking parts from a conveyor and moving parts etc.
• Tool handling grippers
• Hold tools like welding gun or spray painting gun to
perform specific task.
• May hold deburring tool
• Specialized grippers
• To insert an external mating component into an internal
member, inserting a plug into hole and moving parts etc.

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 Grippers
 Pivot action gripper
 Slide action gripper

Angular - Less costly, parts off a

conveyor, Cannot handle wide range of
part size, Don’t resist side loads as well.
Parallel - More costly, Slow in
processing, Can handle large sized
parts, Can resist side load

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 Mechanical Grippers
• Gripping by
mechanical type
fingers is less versatile
• Have fewer number of
joints and lesser
flexibility.
• Economies the device
cost

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 Mechanical Grippers

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 Mechanical Grippers

Varieties of a two-jaw gripper: (a) single moving jaw; (b) both jaws move symmetrically,
coupled by gears; (c) jaws shaped to match a cylindrical workpiece; (d) self adjusting parallel
jaws; (e) standard design of parallel jaw gripper; and (f) sliding jaws driven by rack and pinion
for straight-line motion.

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 Vacuum Grippers
• Simple and has low initial cost
• High level of flexibility
• Uses a rubber or polyurethane suction
cup to pick up items
• Some vacuum grippers use a closed-cell
foam rubber layer, rather than suction cups, to
complete the application.
• Egg packaging industry and glass handling
• Noisy in operation and consumes power
• Works under water with water-suction
• Parallel suction cups with ball joints

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 Suction heads of vacuum grippers

Grasping and Release of object by venturi suction

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 Magnetic Grippers
• Magnetic grippers can use permanent magnets or electromagnets.
• An electromagnet easily be turned off by apply a pulse of reversed
current.
• Cancels any magnetization induced in the work piece and ensures a
quick release.
• Permanent magnet required mechanical device for detaching
• Permanent magnets can be designed to produce shallow magnetic
penetration so that only the top layer of a stack of steel sheets is
picked up.
• Limited load capacity.
• Flat surface it will tend to
slide if it is at an angle to the
horizontal or if it is accelerated
too rapidly.
• Need a continuous supply of power.

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 Pneumatic Grippers
• Popular due to its compact size and light weight
• Easily be incorporated into tight spaces, which can be helpful
in the manufacturing industry.
• Can be either opened or closed
• Noise created when the metal-on-metal gripper operates.
• Controlled by pneumatic solenoid valves, pressure cylinders
• Don’t have motors or gears
• Power of piston cylinder system use for gripping
• Used for small and light package
• Used where space is the issue, and low cost
• Jaws can be actuated directly by the piston
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 Hydraulic Grippers
• Most strength and is often used for applications that require significant
amounts of force.
• Generate their strength from pumps that can provide up to 2000psi.
• Heavier than other grippers due to the oil used in the pumps.
• Need more maintenance due the gripper being damaged because of the
force used during the application.

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 Servo-Electric Grippers
• Appears more and more in industrial settings, due to the fact that it is
easy to control.
• Electronic motors control the movement of the gripper jaws.
• Highly flexible and allow for different material tolerances when
handling parts.
• Servo-electric grippers are also cost effective because they are clean and
have no air lines.

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 Special tool Grippers

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 Special tool Grippers

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 Selection of a gripper

• gripper force is a first order consideration, the torque that is

experienced by the gripper is equally as critical
• In the case of grippers, 10 pounds of force from each jaw
delivers a total of 10 pounds of force to the part
• Friction Grip: Pick up the bowling ball with your hands
completely flat like paddles. Jaw Factor = 4
• Encompassing Grip: Pick up the bowling ball with your fingers
spread and “wrapped” around the ball. Jaw Factor = 1
• High velocity means nothing to grippers, but high acceleration
and deceleration mean a lot.
• Calculate the Grip Force Required

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 Gripping Force

• To resist the slippage, the gripper must be designed to exert

a force that depends on the weight of the part, coeff of
friction and acceleration of part

F=PA
Vaccume

F = P π D2 / 4
Pneumatic

Pg = W / µ n

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 Work volume

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 Robot Applications
• Agriculture
• Automobile
• Construction
• Entertainment
• Health care: hospitals, patient-care, surgery , research, etc.
Household purposes
• Laboratories: science, engineering , etc.
• Manufacturing
• Military: demining, surveillance, attack, etc.
• Mining, excavation and exploration
• Transportation: air, ground, rail, space, etc.
• Utilities: gas, water and electricity
• Warehouses.

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 Robot Applications
Industrial application:
• Material handling
• Material transfer
• Machine loading and unloading
• Spot welding
• Continuous arc welding
• Spray coating
• Assembly
• Inspection
Robots in Hazardous environment
The hazardous environment can be define the place where
human can not survive and harmful . Some examples of
hazardous environments would be nuclear reactors, outside
earth’s atmosphere and even behind enemy lines in war.
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 Robot Applications
• Space Exploration & Research
• Military Application
• Military robots autonomous robots or remote-
controlled mobile robots designed for military
applications from transport to search & attack.
• Household purpose application
• A domestic robot is a type of service robot, an
autonomous robot that is used for household chores.
• Construction application The construction industry slightly
depends on robot. Robots can reduce the breakneck
phenomenon such as metal dissolve , piling etc.

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 Robot Applications
• Automobiles application Robotics are Advancing automobile
manufacturing to new heights.
• Robots gives automotive companies a competitive
advantage .
• It mainly use to improve quality and reduce warranty cost.
• Medical Robot
• A medical robot is a robot used in the medical science.
They include, but are not limited to surgical robot .
• Laboratory Robotics
• Laboratories robotics is the act of using robot in biology or
chemistry lab.
• Agricultural Robot
• Agricultural robots is a robot deployed for agricultural
purposes. The main area of application of robots in
agriculture today is at the harvesting stage.
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