EC368 ROBOTICS
5. Areas of application
-Robots are best suited to work in environments and on tasks
where humans are not.
- For example, a welding robot can probably weld better than
a human welder because it can move more uniformly and
more consistently.
- In addition, robots do not need protective goggles,
protective clothing, ventilation, or many other necessities that
their human counterparts would need.
- As a result, robots can be more productive and better suited
for the job, as long as the welding job is set up for the robot
for automatic operations, nothing happens to the set-up, and
the welding job is not too complicated.
-Similarly, a robot exploring the ocean floor requires far less
attention than a human diver, can stay underwater for long
periods of time, can go to very large depths and still survive
the pressure, and does not require oxygen.
Machine loading, where robots supply other machines with
parts, or remove the processed parts from other machines.
In this type of work, the robot may not even perform any
operation on the part, but rather it facilitates material and
parts handling and loading other machines within the
context of a task.
Pick and place operations, where the robot picks up parts
and places them elsewhere. This may include palletizing,
placement of cartridges, simple assembly where two parts
are put together (such as placing tablets into a bottle),
placing parts in an oven and removing the treated parts
from the oven, or other similar routines.
Welding, where the robot, along with proper set-ups and a
welding end effector, is used to weld parts together. This is
one of the most common applications of robots in the auto
industry. Due to their consistent movements, robotic welds
are very uniform and accurate. Welding robots are usually
large and powerful.
Painting is another very common application of robots,
especially in the automobile industry. Since maintaining a
ventilated but clean room suitable for humans is difficult to
achieve, and because compared to humans, robotic
operations are more consistent, painting robots are very
well-suited for their job.
Inspection of parts, circuit boards, and other similar
products is also a very common application for robots. In
general, robots are one component of an inspection system
that may include a vision system, x-ray device, ultrasonic
detector, or other similar devices. In one application, a
robot was equipped with an ultrasonic crack detector, was
given the CAD data about the shape of an airplane fuselage
and wings, and was used to follow the airplane’s body
contours and check each joint, weld, or rivet. Robots have
also been extensively used for circuit board and chip
inspection.
Sampling with robots is used in the agriculture industry as
well as in many other industries. Sampling can be similar to
pick and place and inspection, except that it is performed
only on a certain number of products.
Assembly tasks usually involve many operations. For
example, the parts must be located and identified, they
must be carried in a particular order with many obstacles
around the set-up, they must be fit together, and then
assembled. Many of the fitting and assembling tasks are
complicated and may require pushing, turning, bending,
wiggling, pressing, snapping the tabs to connect the parts,
and other operations. Slight variations in parts and their
dimensions due to larger tolerances also complicate the
process since the robot has to know the difference
between variations in parts and wrong parts.
Manufacturing by robots may include many different
operations such as material removal, drilling, de-burring,
laying glue, cutting, and so on.
Medical applications are also becoming increasingly
common. As an example, Curexo Technology Corporation’s
Robodoc1 was designed to assist a surgeon in total joint
replacement operations. Since many of the functions
performed during this procedure—such as cutting the head
of the bone, drilling a hole in the bone’s body, reaming the
hole for precise dimension, and installation of the
manufactured implant joint—can be performed with better
precision by a robot, the mechanical parts of the operation
are assigned to the robot. This is also important because
the orientation and the shape of the bone can be
determined by a CAT scan and downloaded to the robot
controller, where it is used to direct the motions of the
robot for a best fit with the implant.
Assisting disabled individuals has also been tried with
interesting results. Much can be done to help the disabled in
their daily lives. In one study, a small tabletop robot was
programmed to communicate with a disabled person and to
perform simple tasks such as placing a food plate into the
microwave oven or placing it in front of the disabled person
to eat.
Hazardous environments are well-suited for robotics.
Because of their inherent danger, in these environments
humans must be well-protected. However, robots can access,
traverse, maintain, and explore these areas without the
same level of concern. Servicing a radioactive environment,
mine-detecting.
Underwater, space, and inaccessible locations can also be
serviced or explored by robots. So far, it is still impractical
to send a human to other planets, even Mars, but there
have been a number of rovers that have already landed
and explored it. The same is true for other space and
underwater applications.
