Fundamentals of Robot Technology: An Introduction to Industrial Robots, Teleoperators and Robot Vehicles

1: Introduction. - Definitions of 'robot' and 'robotics'. - Other definitions in robotics. - Connections between robotics and some related subjects. - Artificial intelligence. - Flexible manufacturing systems, factory automation, computer-aided manufacturing. - Bibliographic notes. - 2: Geometric configurations for robots. - The distinction between arms and vehicles. - Structural elements of manipulators. - Degrees of freedom and number of joints. - Types of joint. - Construction of joints. - Parallel linkages. - Constrained linkages. - Distributed manipulators. - Robot transporters and workpiece positioners. - Arm configuations. - Cartesian. - Polar. - Cylindrical. - Horizontally jointed arms. - Vertically jointed or anthropomorphic arms. - Other arm designs. - Tension structures. - Wrists. - Direct drive to each axis. - Gear drives. - Compliance in wrists. - End effectors (grippers, tools and hands). - Two-jaw grippers. - Special purpose mechanical grippers. - Vaccum and magnetic grippers. - Tools. - Tool and gripper changing. - Anthropomorphic and other adaptive hands. - Two dimensional adaptive grippers. - Anthropomorphic hands. - Bibliographic notes. - 3: Operation, programming and control of industrial robots. - Types of industrial robot and their methods of operation. - Pick and place manipulators. - Point to point robots. - Continuous path robots. - Methods of teaching and programming. - Programming pick and place robots. - Walk-through teaching or pendant teaching. - Walk-through teaching with path control. - Lead-through teaching or physical arm leading. - Off-line programming. - The implications of sensing for robot control. - Types of controller and program memory. - Analysis and control. - Formulating the kinematic equations. - Solving the kinematic equations. - The Jacobian formulation. - The 'forward' and 'inverse' problems of dynamics. - Specifying trajectories. - Servo control of actuators. - Programming languages for industrial robots. - Bibliographic notes. - 4: Actuators for robots. - Pneumatic actuation. - Pneumatic valves. - Hydraulic actuation. - Hydraulic valves. - Hydrostatic circuits. - Hydraulic pumps and associated equipment. - Electric actuation. - Direct current servomotors. - Alternating current servomotors (brushless direct current servomotors). - Stepper motors. - Other electromechanical actuators. - Mechanical transmission methods. - Inertia reduction. - Speed reduction. - Rotary/rectilinear motion conversion. - Differentials and parallelogram linkages. - Bibliographic notes. - 5: Sensing for robots. - Joint angle. - Potentiometers. - Resolvers and synchros. - Incremental and absolute encoders (usually optical). - Joint angular velocity. - Rectilinear position. - Force and torque. - Strain gauges. - Piezoelectric force transducers. - Proximity sensing and range measurement. - Touch sensing. - Resistance-based touch sensors. - Inductance and capacitance. - Piezoelectric transducers. - Thermal touch sensing. - Optical methods of touch sensing. - Slip. - Vision. - Vision hardware 98 Television cameras. - Illuminator. - Framestore. - Preprocessor. - General purpose computer. - Types of computer vision. - Two-dimensional vision with isolated objects and a binary image. - Stasticial pattern recognition. - Two-dimensional vision with isolated objects and a grey scale image. - Touching or overlapping objects. - Two-dimensional inspection. - Two-dimensional line tracking. - Three-dimensional vision: isolated objects. - Single image (monocular vision). - Stereo vision. - Structured illumination. - Range imaging. - Three-dimensional vision applied to a heap of parts. - Three-dimensional scene analysis for mobile robots. - Non-visual sensing in welding and other processes. - Bibliographic notes. - 6: Performance specifications of industrial robots. - Geometric configuration number of axes. - Positioning accuracy and repeatability. - Accuracy. - Repeatability. - Test methods for accuracy and repeatability. - Angular accuracy and repeatability. - Speed. - Speed and acceleration accuracy. - Spatial specifications: working volume, swept area, reach. - Payload (maximum load capacity). - Control-related specifications. - Memory capacity. - Program structure. - Advanced features. - Vibration. - Miscellaneous specifications. - Bibliographic notes. - 7: Applications of industrial robots. - Machine loading. - Pallet loading and unloading. - Investment casting. - Spot welding. - Arc welding. - Spraying (paint, enamel, epoxy resin and other coatings). - Fettling (grinding, chiselling) polishing. - Cutting. - Inspection. - Training and education hobby robots. - Robots in assembly. - Types of robot for assembly. - Grippers. - Compliance. - Design for assembly. - numbers and types. - Component design for mechanical handling. - Design of the assembly process. - New applications for industrial robots. - Extension of existing methods to new applications. - More sensing. - Artificial intelligence. - Handling difficult workpieces. - Integration of industrial robots into the workplace. - Tracking. - Work cell configurations. - Transport of components and assemblies. - Feeders for assembly robots. - Control and communication. - Bibliographic notes. - 8: Teleoperated arms. - Methods of control. - Mechanical master-slave telemanipulators. - Powered telemanipulators. - Servo control of unilateral telemanipulators. - Bilateral servo manipulators. - Special characteristics of teleoperators. - Design criteria for teleoperators. - Vehicles and transporters. - Applications of teleoperators. - Remote handling of radioactive materials. - Remote handling of explosive and toxic materials. - Telemanipulation of heavy objects. - Underwater teleoperation. - Teleoperation in space and planetary exploration. - Telemanipulators for the disabled. - Computer assisted teleoperation. - Bibliographic notes. - 9: Mobile robots. - Land surface robots. - Arrangements of wheels and tracks. - Unusual wheel and track arrangements. - Navigation for land vehicles. - Teleoperation. - Dead reckoning. - Inertial navigation. - Tracking from a fixed base beacons. - Satellite navigation 175 Map matching. - Wall following. - Route planning. - Control and communication. - Sensors for mobile robots. - Body orientation and angular rates. - Body position, speed and acceleration. - Terrain scanning. - Types and applications of mobile robots. - Education and research. - Remote handling. - Military mobile robots. - Fire-fighting and rescue. - Construction. - Mining. - Planetary exploration. - Legged robots. - Comparison of legs and wheels. - Leg number and arrangement. - Leg number. - Leg disposition. - Relative leg length. - Leg construction. - Control. - Climbing robots. - Robot submersibles. - Uses of submersible robots. - Robots in air and space. - Space. - Bibliographic notes. - 10: Automated guided vehicles. - Automated guided vehicle technology. - Power, steering and guidance. - Route programming. - Route planning. - Loading and unloading. - Safety vehicle separation. - Miscellaneous features. - Automated guided vehicles with mechanical and optical guidance. - Free ranging automated guided vehicles. - Bibliographic notes. - 11: Robotics and artificial intelligence. - Vision. - Voice communication. - Planning. - Discrete step planning. - Route planning. - Modelling. - Adaptive control. - Error monitoring and recovery. - Autonomy and intelligence in robots. - Expert systems in robotics. - Bibliographic notes. - 12: Economic and social aspects of robotics. - Reasons for installing robots. - Economic costs and benefits of installing industrial robots. - Safety benefits of using robots. - Prevention of mechanical damage. - Avoidance of robot-generated fires and pollution. - Protection of robots from adverse environments. - Acceptability of industrial robots by the workforce. - Employment. - Other social issues of robotics. - Social issues. - Military robotics. - Police and security uses of mobile robots. - Teleoperators. - Medical uses of robots. - Bibliographic notes. - References and Bibliography.