Fourth Assignment

Industrial Control and Automation 2014/2015

Joo Carvalho n 62905

1 Robot
a) A robot is an articulated mechanical device that is also reprogrammable, that can perform autonomous tasks
by using its processing capabilities
Obtain information of its surrounding by using sensors;
Make decisions about what task to perform by accessing information gathered by the robot
and inserted into the robot priori;
Manipulate objects in its surrounding through the use of actuators;
One of the main advantages and goals of robotics is to release humans from performing hard, repeatable and
hazardous work tasks
Advantages:

Robots can substitute humans in hazardous and uncomfortable work environments;

A robot can perform its work cycle with a consistency and repeatability that cannot be
attained by humans;
Robots can be reprogrammed and equipped with different tooling to perform a different
task;
Robots are computer controlled and so can be connected with other robots in order to
achieve integrated manufacturing;

In terms of disadvantages we have a higher vulnerability to virus development, more maintenance is also
required, and finally it also requires a more strict control policy and high initial capital investment.
b) A manipulating robot is a reprogrammable manipulator, multifunctional, designed to move materials, parts,
tools or special devices in variable movements programmed to perform a set of tasks;
Regarding manipulators its a robot arm with industrial applications that have a rigid body/link that are
connected by joints (revolute or prismatic). Also have a drive (electrical or hydraulic), and finally an end
effector or tool mounted on a flange or plate secured to the wrist joint of the robot.
The robot arm executes movements is space transferring objects and tools point to point, oriented by the
controller. The actuator in the extremity of the arm executes the tasks.
c)

These industrial robots can be classified accordingly to the number of joints, the type of control and actuators
and also its geometry.
But normally they are classified accordingly to the type of joint, because they are one of the major things that
restrict the degrees of freedom of the robot.

Linear joint (L): allows the movement of the links in a linear way;
Rotational joint (R): rotation movement relative to the perpendicular axis of the joint
between the two links;
Torsion joint (T): rotation movement relative to the parallel axis of the joint between
the two links;
Revolving Joint (V): rotation movement with parallel axis to the entry link ( closest to
the basis) and perpendicular to the exit;

There are several robot configurations possible such as Cartesian (PPP), Cylindrical (RPP), Spherical,
Articulated (RRR), Scara (RRP), hand coordinate;
The configuration can affect the possible tasks to perform, for instance for spot welding, loading & unloading
its used a sequence of discrete points in a point to point control. For painting, gluing or arc welding we use a
controlled path motion in a prescribed path.
1

d) The programming system of the robot can be structured, object oriented or dedicated, and can be implemented
in different platforms using different programming language. The controllers used nowadays are
microprocessors and have several communications interface.
When robot joints are operated at high speeds and undergo fast accelerations, the modelling of the robot
manipulators becomes a complex mechanism since we need to consider centrifugal and Coriolis forces and
study their behavior on the system, for that we will use dynamic programming.
It is clear that the system programing can affect the system performance and versatility because we can add
more constraints to the system and choose performance index in order to limit velocities, torques, and even
derivatives of the acceleration in order to protect the robot from mechanical failure and increase its reliability
e)

The ability to communicate within an informatics system in an industrial context, allows the integration of
several manipulators robots within an industrial floor.
The most important aspect is the ability to interconnecting robotic systems and controllers, this leads to a
increase in modularity and flexibility when compared to traditional wired systems, by integrating information
and opening communication ports to the robot controllers inside a factory, it is now possible to interface robotic
work cells to the internet, allowing in that way to remote site monitoring and control.

2 Remote Manipulators
The remote manipulators are different from a fixed automation system due to the fact of being flexible, i.e. programmable.
The robot is able to adapt to changes in the process, by the means of his sensing system and its actuators. One fundamental
tool that allows this flexibility his its computational vision that transforms a image in a command or control interface.
The remote manipulators normally have a higher degrees of freedom than fixed manipulators.

3 Automated Guided Vehicles

A AGV is an automated guided vehicle, that is programmed by an computer system to move around the factory floor
delivering parts to work stations or removing waste, its main characteristics are:

Automation of loading/ unloading

Command
Repeatability and precision
Cargo capacity and robustness
Interface with the external environment
Synchronism with external environment

The main difference between the AGVs and the manipulators, is that the manipulators have a fixed based, and the
AGVs have a locomotion system (wheels, caterpillar, paws), this characteristic makes them suitable for logistics and
supply chain operations.
In terms of industrial purposes its suitable not only for movement of raw materials and other products, but also to
perform operations that are in separate physical locations within the factory.

4 AGVs Economic Implications

If we take in account that in an industrial environment one of biggest operational costs are labor related, agvs have
higher productivity than people and special suitable for transportation operations because they have a relatively high cargo
capacity and an adequate speed of movement.
This can result in more efficiency in all the supply chain activities, and reduce costs significantly, despite the maintenance
costs for this vehicles being relatively high.
For example within a warehouse AGVs the real time control of this systems allows a precise identification of the location
of each product and its path, reducing in this way inventory costs, reducing the time of response to change, better work
environment, reduction in damages of materials.
The main economic factors to take in account while selecting an AGV are: navigation system (laser, magnetic strips, optical
guide) autonomy of the batteries, charging times for the batteries. There are several case studies of AGVs implementation
in industry ( Soporcel, Kiva) and all of them report a very high return of investment and a low payback period.

5 Fixed and Flexible Automation

The fixed automation are related with dedicated systems for serial processing due to the execution of fixed and specific
tasks, low operations costs, large production batches and ease to control and efficient.
The flexible automation appeared due to the necessity of having reprogrammable robots, capable of performing multiple
tasks with easy adapt to variations. And also to small and medium scale production volumes, however this flexible
automation systems require more rigid maintenance.