a.a.

2020-2021

Robotics
Robotics

INTRODUCTION
 Some history: legends
Origins in the ancient world
• Concepts of artificial servants and companions
date at least as far back as the ancient legends of
Cadmus, who is said to have sown dragon teeth
that turned into soldiers
Cadmus

• The legend of Pygmalion’s statue of Galatea that

came to life

• In Greek mythology, Hephaestus created

utilitarian three-legged tables that could move
about under their own power

• The clay golems of Jewish legend Hephaestus

 The early beginnings

1495
Leonardo da Vinci’s mechanical
knight

1737
Jacques de Vaucanson’s
automata
– flute player
– tambourine player
– “The Digesting Duck"
 Industrial application
• Modern concept starts
being developed during
the industrial revolution
(1760-1840)
– Complex mechanisms
– Power systems
– Introduction of electricity:
small compact motors
– Remote-controlled
systems (1898 – Nikola
Tesla)
 Origin of the name
• The term "robot" was first used to
denote fictional automata in the 1921
play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)
by the Czech writer Karel Čapek.
– According to Čapek, the word was created
by his brother Josef from the Czech robota,
meaning servitude.

• In 1941 and 1942, Isaac Asimov

formulated the Three Laws of Robotics,
and in the process coined the word
"robotics".
 First modern robot

Unimate
George Devol in 1954

• Transporting die castings from an

assembly line and welding these
parts on auto bodies
• Dangerous task for workers
• Toxic fumes
• Heat
• Dangerous heavy machinery
 First computer-controlled robot
Stanford arm
Victor Scheinman
1969

• First electronic computer-controlled robotic

arm
 …and now?
Situation:
• Many processes are still manual
• … thus require skilled workers
• Dangerous machineries
• Transportation of semi-finished products is
often done manually
 Automation
Automation may be a possible solution:
– It increases efficiency
– It decreases operating costs
– It increases safety

Industrial automation is carried out by:

– Robotics
– Internal transport and conveyor systems
– Vision systems
– Sensing, automatic controls, …
 Robotics
The current situation is that robotics is entering
with determination in the industry (as already
happened in many fields, e.g. automotive)
• We will see the fundamentals of robotics
• … and how robotics can be taken advantage
of
 Robot

Definition
A machine capable of carrying out a complex
task automatically.
 Robots
• Classification Industrial robots
– Stationary Rovers
– Mobile

Flying
Mobile robots
 Other classifications
• Power source:
– Electrical
– Pneumatic/hydraulic
– Nuclear
– «Green»
 And more...
• Kinematic structure ("type of mechanism")
• Size of the work envelope
• Size of the robot
• Mass of the robot
• Load capability
• Etc.
 Industrial robot
• A robot used for manufacturing:
– Automated
– Programmable
– Can move on 2 or more axis

Parallel robot
/ delta robot

Serial robot /
Serial manipulator
Industrial Robot: some definitions
 Links, joints and axes
• Link
Rigid body which is part of a robot
• Joint
Connection between two links
• Axes
Geometrical entities that
determine the motion of
the joints (linear/rotational)
Joints
Joints
 Actuators
Robotic actuators
• Motor + gearbox
• Linear or rotational
• Must provide good accuracy
 End-effectors and tools
End-effector
The component that manoeuvres
the tool so that it interacts with
the environment
Tool
• Component that
is attached to the
end-effector,
• Necessary to
perform the
interaction:
‒ Painting,
‒ Grabbing, …
 Control apparatus
• Controller
• Teach pendant
 Attributes of a robot
• Payload
– How much mass the robot can lift and manipulate

• Speed
– How fast the robot can position the end-effector
– Individual joints have speed limits as well

• Acceleration
– How quickly the end-effector can accelerate
– Individual joints have acceleration limits as well
– Trouble to reach the specified speed for short movements or in
complex paths requiring frequent changes of direction
 Attributes of a robot
• Accuracy
– How closely a robot can reach a commanded position.
– Accuracy can be improved:
• external sensing with feedback (e.g. vision system)
• calibration
– Accuracy can vary:
• with speed
• position
• with payload

• Repeatability
– How well the robot will return to a programmed position.
– Not the same as accuracy
 Accuracy vs. repeatability
• Accuracy
– Distance of the
EE from the
commanded
position

• Repeatability
– Spread of the EE
positions
Repeatability
Accuracy vs. repeatability
 Robot calibration

1. Measurement of
the effective Repeatability
positions average envelope

2. Find

3. When
commanding a
position, add
 Types of robots
• Serial robot Video 1 (panels pick and place)
• Parallel robot Video 2 (milling)
Video 3 (nail hammering)
• SCARA
• Cartesian
Video 1 (panels pick and place)

The robot picks up the end-effector

The robot picks up one

panel with a vacuum
gripper
Pick and Place

The robot places the panel on a conveyor system

 Video 2 (milling)

Positioning
Machining

Using tool to
perform
milling
operation

Tool change
Video 3 (nail hammering)
 Types of robots
• Serial robot
• Parallel robot
• SCARA
• Cartesian

Video
 Video Delta

Fault detection with

Food industry pick/place/selection
computer vision
 Types of robots
• Serial robot
• Parallel robot
• SCARA
• Cartesian
Selective
Compliance
Assembly
Robot
Arm

Video
Video SCARA
 Types of robots
• Serial robot
• Parallel robot
• SCARA
• Cartesian

Video
 Video CARTESIAN

Two Cartesian robots on the same structure

Robotics

ROBOTICS: OUTLINE
 Robotics
• Mechanical theory
– Mechanisms and degrees of freedom
– Kinematics (direct and inverse)
– Euler angles
– Workspace and joint-space
– Redundancy and Singularity
• Control
– Path planning
– Position, force and impedance control
– Path teaching
• Robotic systems
– Robots functional schematics
– End-effectors and tools
• Industrial examples: painting and pick & place