Do I Need A Robot Or A Nonrobot Automated System?

Abstract

In manufacturing automation, the current focus is on integration at enterprise level. This however has not reduced the need for automation on the shopfloor. On the contrary, the latter has become more pressing. On the shopfloor, major manufacturing costs are related to handling and assembly operations. Difficulties in automating those operations are twofold. First, there is usually a line beyond which manual operation remains the most economical solution today. And then for each application, the proper level ofsophistication in terms of automation technology should be adopted. The paper concentrates on the second difficulty. Most often, products and processes can be designed so as to require fairly simple automated systems for their manufacturing (on/off devices, programmable logic controllers, independent actuators, etc.). But when the applicationfeatures significant position and/or orientation uncertainties (mathematical space of dimension 3 or more), some kind of perception is required to cope with them, and this usually results in adaptive workpiece or tool trajectories. Robotics provide unmatched solutions for such multi-dimensional, coordinated motions. General guidelines are introduced in order t o select the appropriate type of component for automation. Then, two case studies follow. In both cases, the application is complex, in terms of parameter variability. Many examples are given of correspondence between given guidelines and concrete, low-level details. In particular, while in the first case automated solutions can be devised with traditional, multiple independent servoed motions and general-purpose computers, in the second one, industrial robotics with dedicated controllers provide the right answer.