Robotic Systems For Handling And Assembly

Although parallel robots are known to offer many advantages with respect to accuracy, dynamics, and stiffness, major breakthroughs in industrial applications have not yet taken place. This is due to a knowledge gap preventing fast and precise execution of industrial handling and assembly tasks. This book focuses on the design, modeling, and control of innovative parallel structures as well as the integration of novel machine elements. Special attention is paid to the integration of active components into lightweight links and passive joints. In addition, new control concepts are introduced to minimize structural vibrations. Although the optimization of robot systems itself allows a reduction of cycle times, these can be further decreased by improved path planning, robot programming, and automated assembly planning concepts described by 25 contributions within this book. The content of this volume is subdivided into four main parts dealing with Modeling and Design, System Implementation, Control and Programming as well as Adaptronics and Components. This book is aimed at researchers and postgraduates working in the field of parallel robots as well as practicing engineers dealing with industrial robot development and robotic applications.

This book is an updated reference of research activities that bring together various theories, methods, and technologies of robotic systems and automation for manufacturing and related fields. The book includes articles on state-of-the-art robotic systems and automation for diverse avenues in automation such as advanced manufacturing, developments in design methodology, kinematics and dynamics analysis, performance analysis and evaluation, intelligent manufacturing, assembly, sensors, control theory and practice, human-machine interface, and so on. This book is an excellent research reference for engineers, researchers, and students that range from senior undergraduates to advanced doctoral students and professionals who are interested in robotics and automation.

In the western world, economic logic (and need) has replaced the indentured craftsman by computer controlled machining centres within manufacturing industries. The same rationale is the incentive behind the development of robots that are technically capable of performing assembly tasks, and the inevitable, albeit slow, adoption of these robots by the manufacturing industries. This book is based upon the author's knowledge and first hand experience of the manufacturing industries of North America and the UK in general, and the UK's robotics industry in particular. The general and specific implications of per forming an assembly task robotically are discussed, the majority of which are not specific to anyone sector of the manufactur ing industry, nor to any particular size of product being manu factured. This book should be of interest to those who are interested in or involved with the use of robots for assembly. The 'veils of mystic' and misinformation on robots and the assembly process are subsequently removed.

Setting out relevant examples of state-of-the-art developments and products, this book examines manipulator design, case studies, the importance of product design, programming systems, sensors, and financial issues.

This book consolidates the current state of knowledge on implementing cooperating robot-based systems to increase the flexibility of manufacturing systems. It is based on the concrete experiences of experts, practitioners, and engineers in implementing cooperating robot systems for more flexible manufacturing systems. Thanks to the great variety of manufacturing systems that we had the opportunity to study, a remarkable collection of methods and tools has emerged. The aim of the book is to share this experience with academia and industry practitioners seeking to improve manufacturing practice. While there are various books on teaching principles for robotics, this book offers a unique opportunity to dive into the practical aspects of implementing complex real-world robotic applications. As it is used in this book, the term “cooperating robots” refers to robots that either cooperate with one another or with people. The book investigates various aspects of cooperation in the context of implementing flexible manufacturing systems. Accordingly, manufacturing systems are the main focus in the discussion on implementing such robotic systems. The book begins with a brief introduction to the concept of manufacturing systems, followed by a discussion of flexibility. Aspects of designing such systems, e.g. material flow, logistics, processing times, shop floor footprint, and design of flexible handling systems, are subsequently covered. In closing, the book addresses key issues in operating such systems, which concern e.g. decision-making, autonomy, cooperation, communication, task scheduling, motion generation, and distribution of control between different devices. Reviewing the state of the art and presenting the latest innovations, the book offers a valuable asset for a broad readership.

This book deals with a key area of industrial robotics — the automation of small batch assembly. Assembly imparts enormous added value but turns out to be extraordinarily difficult to automate. The work presented here, all from the Centre for Intelligent Systems at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, addresses this issue and shows ways in which the difficulties may be reduced through systematic architectural designs and specific structures for interfacing and controlling sensory-actuation systems. The book develops three main themes: a task-centred approach to robotic assembly, explicit reasoning techniques for fault diagnosis and error handling; and sensor-actuator integration methods. These are vital topics for those concerned with flexible automation and robotics.