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Fundamentals of Robotics 16Me6Derob: Unit - 1 Chapter - 1: Introduction

The document provides an introduction to robotics, including a brief history and overview. It discusses how the word "robot" was coined in a 1921 play and how the first industrial robot was created in 1954. It defines a robot and describes robot anatomy, including links, joints, and end effectors. Applications of robots include hazardous environments, manufacturing, surgery, and entertainment. Robots are classified by degrees of freedom and configuration.

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42 views

Fundamentals of Robotics 16Me6Derob: Unit - 1 Chapter - 1: Introduction

The document provides an introduction to robotics, including a brief history and overview. It discusses how the word "robot" was coined in a 1921 play and how the first industrial robot was created in 1954. It defines a robot and describes robot anatomy, including links, joints, and end effectors. Applications of robots include hazardous environments, manufacturing, surgery, and entertainment. Robots are classified by degrees of freedom and configuration.

Uploaded by

All_reg
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fundamentals of Robotics

16ME6DEROB
Unit - 1
Chapter - 1: Introduction

Prepared by
Narahari, Asst. Prof., ME
Introduction
• Robotics
• One of the most 'fascinating' fields today.
• Most fertile topic for all sorts of 'fiction'.
• Most promising field for technological developments.
• ...
• In fact, it is so claimed that,
• we are in the midst of a robotics-revolution and
• this revolution will have far reaching effects on humanity
• more than that of the famed Industrial Revolution of 17th Century.
Introduction (Cont'd)
• Robot:
• The word robot is derived from a Czech word 'robota' meaning: “Slave
Labour”.
• This word was adopted into English language in the year 1923.
• Robotics:
• Refers to the field of 'study of robots'.
Robotics - History
• The word 'robot' came into English in 1923 from the translation of a 1921
Czech play R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robot) by Karel Capek.
• In the above mentioned play, the author depicted the robots as very efficient
beings.
• He also made them look like highly indistinguishable from humans except for
their lack of emotions.
• These robots were shown as replacement for human-workers.
• In the play, the robots rebel against their human masters and destroy the
entire human race except for one man so that, he can continue making more
robots.
• But, unfortunately, the formula for robot making gets lost in the destruction.
Robotics - History (Cont'd)
• Issac Asimov (1920-1992), an American science-fiction writer, wrote a
story titled “Runaround”, in 1942, in which he first used the word
'robotics'.
• In contrast to Capek's play, he portrays robots as totally harmless
beings which are in complete control of the humans.
• The salient feature of this story was that, it explicitly proposed the
famous “Three Laws of Robotics”.
• But, the modern industrial robot, when it first made its appearance
bore little resemblance to the science-fiction-inspired androids /
humanoids.
Robotics - History (Cont'd)
• The modern industrial robot was first patented by George C Devol in
1954.
• He named it as: “programmable articulated transfer device”.
• He along with J. Engleberger founded the world's first robot (or
robotics) company, “Unimation Inc” in 1956.
• They manufactured the first industrial robot, called Unimate.
• This robot Unimate was purchased by General Motors in 1961 and
installed at an automobile plant in New Jersey, USA.
Robotics - History (Cont'd) When the actual
industrial robots came
into existence, they bore
little resemblance to the
science-fiction-inspired
androids / humanoids.

Programmable Universal Machine Cincinatti Milacron T3 (The


for Assembly (PUMA) 560 Tomorrow Tool) Robot
Robot
• Definition:
• As per Robot Institute of America, a robot is “a re-programmable multi-functional
manipulator designed to move materials, parts, tools or specialized devices through
various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks”.
• As per Webster dictionary, a robot is “an automatic device that performs functions
normally ascribed to humans or a machine in the form a human”.
• The most important of the keywords is: re-programmable.
• This word has closely linked the development of robots to the rapid
development of the digital computer and developments in the art and
science of computing.
• Thus, the most essential component of a robotic system is:
• a computer or a microprocessor that allows running of different robot programs for
various applications.
Robot (Cont'd)
• How is a robot different from a CNC machine?
• The word 're-programmable' distinguishes a robot from a CNC machine since the
level and sophistication of re-programmability is significantly higher in an industrial
robot.
• Machines, which are for the most part limited to one class of task are considered
fixed automation.
• In addition to re-programmability, another key aspect in the development
of the modern industrial robot is, the concept and implementation of the
feedback control.
• Feedback control allows the execution of the program or the desired
motion with the required accuracy in spite of 'small' changes in the robot
or the environment.
• Thus, it helps in improving the performance of the robots.
Robotics - History (Cont'd)
• In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the growth in the use of industrial
robots slowed down significantly (except in Japan).
• One of the main reasons for this drop was:
• they could not emulate humans at all (except for a little).
• The robots were unable to perform tasks that human operators could
perform quite easily like:
• avoiding obstacles in a cluttered workspace,
• recognizing and manipulating objects (screws, bolts etc.)
• adapting and reacting quickly to changes in the environment etc.
• A feeling started to seep in that: industrial robots were essentially blind,
deaf and dumb.
Robotics - History (Cont'd)
• With the advancement in sensing and computing, the modern industrial
robots are easier to program and use.
• They are also more flexible and more intelligent.
• With the help of sensor technology, very-high computational abilities and
advanced feedback control methods, the late 1990s saw a renewed
interest in the use of robots.
• For more detailed event-list in history, refer to: Page 6 of 'Robotics:
Fundamental Concepts & Analysis' by Ghosal A.
Robots - Applications
• List of applications of modern industrial robots is endless.
• To name a few main areas of applications:
• Hazardous & harsh environments (radioactive environments, satellites operations,
planet/moon-rovers etc.)
• High-sensitivity environments (ultra-clean rooms of electronic industries etc.)
• Repetitive tasks (mass-manufacturing, material-handling etc.)
• High Precision & Quality jobs
• Frequently changing designs & patterns (Consumer goods & electronics etc.)
• Apart from the above mentioned industrial usage, following domains are
also seeing increased usage of robots:
• Entertainment industry (movies, Aibo etc.)
• Medicine & surgical uses (robotic system Da Vinci used for heart-surgery etc.)
• Domestic servants (both human like & non-human like) etc.,
Robots - Classification
• Robots are generally classified according to their number of degrees of
freedom or axes.
• The degrees of freedom of a robot approximately indicates its capability.
• Based on its DOF, there are 9, 8, 6, 5 or 4 axes robots.
• Based on its configuration, a robot may be a Cartesian, spherical or
cylindrical robot.
• Based on number of ends fixed, there are serial (only one end fixed)
manipulators and parallel (both ends fixed) manipulators.
• Based on the complexity (or simplicity) of the robots capabilities, the
robots are classified as: playback robots and computer-controlled robots.
Robots - Anatomy
• The most important form of industrial robot is
termed as 'Mechanical Manipulator'.
• The anatomy of this mechanical manipulator
consists of:
• Rigid (almost) links
• Joints: usually revolute, but sometimes, even
prismatic
• End-effector: This is the device which is present at
the end of the chain of links that make up the
manipulator. This could be: a gripper / a welding
torch / an electromagnet / any other device.
• The position of the manipulator is stated by
giving a description of:
• the tool frame, which is attached to the end-effector,
relative to
• the base frame, which is attached to the non-moving
base of the manipulator.
Robots - Anatomy (Cont'd)
• Each joint is connected to two links, an input link and an
output link.
• Joint provides controlled relative movement between the
input link and output link.
• A robotic link is the rigid component of the robot
manipulator.
• Most of the robots are mounted upon a stationary base,
such as the floor.
• From this base, a joint-link numbering scheme may be
recognized as shown in the Figure.
• The robotic base and its connection to the first joint are
termed as link-0.
• The first joint in the sequence is joint-1.
• Link-0 is the input link for joint-1, while the output link from
joint-1 is link-1—which leads to joint-2.
• Thus link 1 is, simultaneously, the output link for joint-1 and
the input link for joint-2.
• This joint-link-numbering scheme is further followed for all
joints and links in the robotic systems.

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