Robots In Industry

"Industrial Robots: Design, Applications and Technology is an essential reference source that explores the fundamentals of kinematics, dynamics and industrial robot control as well as a new generation of industrial robots, the collaborative robots or cobots. The tendency in Industry 4.0 towards the mass customisation of products, shorter product cycles and quality demands has led to the introduction of collaborative robot's systems capable of learning and working hand-in-hand with humans. Collaborative robots in the industry target the enhancement of production efficiency by combining the best of human operators and the industrial robots' accuracy, speed and reliability. The advances in smart sensors, artificial intelligence, digital twin, cyber-physical systems and the adoption of exoskeletons in industrial applications have opened new possibilities for technological progress in manufacturing, which led to efficient and flexible factories. This requires individuals to be educated in trends that are now focused on the design, monitoring and control of smart production processes. Featuring coverage on a wide range of topics such as new trends in human-robot collaboration, advanced vision technology and artificial intelligence, as well as application of industry robots in metal and wood industry, this book is ideally designed for electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, manufacturers, supply chain managers, logistics specialists, investors, managers, policymakers, production scientists, researchers, academicians and students at the postgraduate level"--

The hardest data for managers and engineers in charge of the design and implementation of robot systems to acquire is also the most valuable: case studies detailing best current practice and the return on investment actually achieved. It has been a major goal of the British Robot Association, among other professional groups, to organise meetings where such case studies are presented and discussed between members; but the obvious restrictions of commercial confidentiality lead to considerable difficulty, especially in relation to the best recent installations. The authors of this book have been in the uniquely privileged position of lecturing in the Cambridge University Production Engineering Tripos, a course specially organised in conjunction with a number of leading companies applying robots and automation. Actual case studies from these companies form an important part of the course, making this book that has emerged from it a uniquely important addition to our Open University Press series.

In the modern world, highly repetitive and tiresome tasks are being delegated to machines. The demand for industrial robots is growing not only because of the need to improve production efficiency and the quality of the end products, but also due to rising employment costs and a shortage of skilled professionals. The industrial robot market is projected to grow by 16% year-on-year in the immediate future. The industry’s progressing automation is increasing the demand for specialists who can operate robots. If you would like to join this sought-after and well-paid professional group, it’s time to learn how to operate and program robots using modern methods. This book provides all the information you will need to enter the industry without spending money on training or looking for someone willing to introduce you to the world of robotics. You will learn about all aspects of programming and implementing robots in a company. The book consists of four parts: general introduction to robotics for non-technical people; part two describes industry robotisation; part three depicts the principles and methods of programming robots; the final part touches upon the safety of industrial robots and cobots. Are you a student of a technical faculty, or even a manager of a plant who would like to robotise production? If you are interested in this subject, you won’t find a better book!

THE REAL THING by Isaac Asimov Back in 1939, when I was still a teenager, I began to write (and publish) a series of stories about robots which, for the first time in science fiction, were pictured as having been deliberately engineered to do their job safely. They were not intended to be creaky Gothic menaces, nor outlets for mawkish sentiment. They were simply well-designed machines. Beginning in 1942, I crystallized this notion in what I called 'The Three Laws of Robotics' and, in 1950, nine of my robot stories were collected into a book, I, Robot. I did not at that time seriously believe that I would live to see robots in action and robotics becoming a booming industry .... Yet here we are, better yet, I am alive to see it. But then, why shouldn't they be with us? Robots fulfil an important role in industry. They do simple and repetitive jobs more steadily, more reliably, and more uncomplainingly than a human being could - or should. Does a robot displace a human being? Certainly, but he does so at a job that, simply because a robot can do it, is beneath the dignity of a human being; a job that is no more than mindless drudgery. Better and more human jobs can be found for human beings - and should.

This book aims to discuss the technical and ethical challenges posed by the present technological framework and to highlight the fundamental role played by human-centred design and human factors in the definition of robotic architectures for human–robot collaboration. The book gives an updated overview of the most recent robotic technology, conceived and designed to collaborate with human beings in industrial working scenarios. The technological development of robotics over the last years and the fast evolution of AI, machine learning and IoT have paved the way for applications that extend far beyond the typical use of robots performing repetitive tasks in exclusive spaces. In this new technological paradigm that is expected to drive the robotics market in the coming years, robots and workers will coexist in the same workplace, sharing not only this lived space, but also the roles and functions inherent to a process of production, merging the benefits of automated and manual performing. However, having robots cooperating in real time with workers, responding in a physical, psychological and social adequate way, requires a human-centred design that not only calls for high safety standards regulating the quality of human–robot interaction, but also demands the robot's fine-grained perception and awareness of the dynamics of its surrounding environment, namely the behaviours of their human peers—their expected actions/responses—fostering the necessary collaborative efforts towards the accomplishment of the tasks to be executed.

Providing a broad, semi-detailed review of various robotic applications basedon process, this text incorporates existing articles, as well as the author'sown knowledge to describe points of interest and background.

In this book, a new approach to the Industry 4.0 revolution is given. New policies and challenges appear and education in robotics also needs to be adapted to this new era. Together with new factory conceptualization, novel applications introduce new paradigms and new solutions to old problems. The factory opens its walls and outdoor applications are solved with new robot morphologies and new sensors that were unthinkable before Industry 4.0 era. This book presents nine chapters that propose a new outlook for an unstoppable revolution in industrial robotics, from drones to software robots

Like many other new technologies which have since been seized and exploited by others, the industrial robot is a British invention. In 1957, a patent was produced by a British inventor, Cyril Walter Kenward, and later it became crucial to the future of robotics. For across the Atlantic two robot builders, Unimation and AMF, both infringed this patent and ultimately a cash settlement was made to Kenward. The owner of Unimation Inc. was Joseph Engelberger, an entrepreneur and avid reader of Isaac Asimov, the writer who helped to create the image of the benevolent robot. It is claimed that Engelberger's journey of fame down the road which led to him being hailed as the 'father of robotics' can be traced to the day that he met George C. Devol at a cocktail party. Devol was an inventor with an impressive list of patents to his name in the electronics field. One of Devol's patent applications referred to a Programmed Transfer Article. Devol's patent was issued in 1961 as US Patent 2,988,237, and this formed the basis of the Unimate robot which first saw the light of day in 1960. The first Unimate was sold to Ford Motor Company which used it to tend a die-casting machine. It is perhaps ironic that the first robot was used by a company which refused to recognise the machine as a robot, preferring instead to call it a Universal Transfer Device.