Robotics Introduction

Robotics
The Merriam Webster Dictionary, 1998, defines robotics as “technology dealing with the
design, construction, and operation of robots”.
Robotics encompasses such diverse areas of technology as mechanical, electrical, and
electronic systems; computer hardware; and computer software.

The Robot Institute of America defines a robot as a programmable, multifunctional

manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices, through variable
programmed motions, for the performance of a variety of tasks.

Different fields of technology involved in the architecture of robots:

Theory of robots
Sensors and transducer technology
Motors technology (Steppers or DC servo motors)
Motor drive and control
Control theory
Power semiconductor drive Microelectronics
Digital systems
Microprocessors
Computer systems & Computer interfacing

General areas of robotics:

• Industrial,
• Hobbyist,
• Show Or Promotional,
• Domestic Or Personal,
• Military,
• Educational, And
• Medical.

Classification of Robots
Manual-Handling device.
Fixed-Sequence Robot.
Variable-Sequence Robot.
Playback Robot.
Numerical Control Robot.
Intelligent Robot.
History of Robotics
1922: Rossum’s Universal Robots
1954: First programmable robot
1978: First PUMA robot
1983: Started teaching in Robotics

Advantages of Robots
Increase Productivity, Safety, Efficiency, Quality, and Consistency of products. Work in
Hazardous environments and have capabilities beyond that of humans.

Robot Components
Components of Industrial Robot
•Physical parts or anatomy,
•Built-in instructions or instinct ,
•Learned behavior or task programs.

Physical Parts of An Industrial Robot

•Mechanical part or manipulator (Body, Arm, Wrist)
•End effector (Tool or Gripper)
•Actuators
•Controller (Sensors, Processor)
•Power supply,
•Vehicle (optional).

Robot Anatomy
Manipulator is constructed of a series of Joints & Links. A Joint provides relative motion
between the input link and the output link.
Each joint provides the robot with one degree of freedom.

Robot Joints
Linear, rotational, twiating and revolving.
Degrees of Freedom
Point location in space specified by three coordinates (P). Object location in space specified
by location of a selected point on it (P)
and orientation of the object (R). Six degrees (P,R) of freedom needed to fully place the
object in space and orientate it.

Robot Hand Location

The arm joints are used to position the end effector. The wrist joints
are used to orient the end effector.

Robot Languages
Robotic languages range from machine level to high-level languages.
High-level languages are either interpreter based or compiler based.

Levels of Robot Languages

•Microcomputer Machine Language Level
•Point-to-Point Level
•Primitive Motion Level
•Structured Programming Level
•Task-Oriented Level

Industrial Robot Characteristics

Lifting power (Payload), Reach (Workspace), Repeatability, Reliability,
Manual/Automatic control, Memory, Library of programs, Safety interlocks, Speed of
operation, Computer interface, and easy Maintenance.

Robot Kinematics
Kinematics is the modeling of the relationship between the position, velocities and
accelerations of the link of a manipulator. Kinematics concerns the study of motion of bodies
without reference to forces that cause the motion.

Object Manipulation
Manipulation is the skilful handling and treating of objects: picking them up, moving them,
fixing them one to another, and working on them with tools. Before we can program a robot
to perform such operations, we require a method of specifying where the object is relative to
the robot gripper, and a way of controlling the motion of the gripper.

Kinematic Model
Before a robot can move its hand to an object, the object must be located relative to it. There
is currently no simple method for measuring the location of a robot hand. Most robots
calculate the position of their hand using a kinematic model of their arm.

Forward Kinematics will enable us to determine where the robot’s hand will be if all joint
variables are known.

Inverse Kinematics will enable us to calculate what each joint variable must be if we desire
the hand to be located at a particular point and have a particular orientation.

Transformations
Transformations of frames introduced to make modeling the relocation of objects easier.
An object is described with respect to a frame located in the object, and this frame is
relocated with a transformation.

The transformation is the result of a sequence of rotations and translations, which are
recorded with a transformation equation.

Robot Drive System

The actions of the individual joints must be controlled in order for the manipulator to perform
a desired motion. The robot’s capacity to move its body, arm, and wrist is provided by the
drive system used to power the robot.

The joints are moved by actuators powered by a particular form of drive system. Common
drive systems used in robotics are electric drive, hydraulic drive, and pneumatic drive.

Types of Actuators
*Electric Motors, like: Servomotors, Stepper motors or Direct-drive electric motors
*Hydraulic actuators
*Pneumatic actuators

Drive Systems
The drive system determines the speed of the arm movement, the strength of the robot,
dynamic performance, and, to some extent, the kinds of application.

Robot Actuators Quality

Have enough power to acc/dec the links, Carry the loads, Light, Economical, Accurate,
Responsive, Reliable and Easy to maintain.

Characteristics of Actuating Systems

*Weight, Power-to-weight Ratio.
*Operating Pressure.
*Stiffness vs. Compliance.
*Use of reduction gears.

Stiffness vs. Compliance

Stiffness is the resistance of a material against deformation. Hydraulic systems are very stiff
and noncompliant. Pneumatic systems are compliant.

*The stiffer the system, the larger load that is needed to

deform it.
*The more compliant the system, the easier it deforms under
the load.
*Stiffness is directly related to the modulus of elasticity of the
material.
*Stiff systems have a more rapid response to changing loads
and pressures and are more accurate.
*A working balance is needed between these two competing
characteristics.
Use of Reduction Gears
Gears used to increase the torque and reduce the speed. Hydraulic actuators can be directly
attached to the links. This Simplifies the design, Reduces the weight, Reduces the cost,
Reduces rotating inertia of joints, Reduces backslash, Reduces noise and Increases the
reliability of the system.

Electric motors normally used in conjunction with reduction gears to increase their torques
and to decrease their speed. This increases the cost, increases the number of parts, increases
backslash, increases inertia of rotating body, increases the resolution of the system.

Applications
Electric motors are the most commonly used actuators. Hydraulic systems were very popular
for large robots. Pneumatic cylinders are used in on/off type joints, as well as for insertion
purposes.

Drive Systems II
Hydraulic and pneumatic drive systems use devices such as linear pistons and rotary vane
actuators to accomplish the motion of the joint. Pneumatic drive is typically reserved for
smaller robots used in simple material transfer applications. Both electric drive and hydraulic
drive are used on more sophisticated industrial robots.

Hydraulic Drives
Hydraulic drives are electric pump connected to a reservoir tank and a hydraulic actuator.

Advantages:
precise motion control over a wide range of speeds and loads, robust,
and greater strength.
Disadvantages:
expensive, high maintenance, not energy efficient, noisy, not suited for clean-air
environments.

Pneumatic Drives
Pneumatic drives: air-driven actuators.
Advantages: economical, easy installation, less costly than hydraulic drives, good speed and
accuracy.
Disadvantages: precision is less than electric drives (air is compressible), air needs
conditioning, noisy, vibration.

Electric Drives
They are readily adaptable to computer control, the predominant technology used today for
robot controllers. Electric drive robots are relatively accurate compared to hydraulically
powered robots.

Types: ac servomotors, dc servomotors, stepper motors.

Advantages: quiet, less floor space, electric power readily available, clean-air environments,
precision.

Stepper Motors
Stepper motor, unless a step is missed, steps a known angle each time it is moved. Angular
position is always known and no feedback is necessary. Stepper motors come in many
different forms and principles of operations.

Stepper Motors Operation

Stepper has multiple windings in its stator and a permanent magnet as its rotor. When each of
the coils of the stator is energized, the rotor will rotate to align itself with the stator magnetic
field. Steppers rotate only when the magnetic field is rotated through its different windings.
Each rotation is equal to the step angle (1.8 – 7.5). With the opposite on-off sequence, the
rotor will rotate in the opposite direction.

Stepper Speed-Torque Characteristic

Steppers develop maximum torque (holding) at zero angular velocity.
As the speed of motor increases, the torque it develops reduces significantly. Steppers cannot
rotate fast. If the signals coming are too fast, the rotor will miss steps.

L297 / L298 Stepper Motor Driver

n This Step motor controller uses the L297 and L298N driver combination; it can be used as
stand alone or controlled by microcontroller. It is designed to accept step pulses at up to
25,000 per second. All eight inputs are pulled up to +5V by RP1 (4.7K). The output driver is
capable of driving up to 2 Amp into each phase of a two-phase bipolar step motor.

L293 Dual Stepper Motor Driver

The circuit consists of three ICs, a PIC16F84 and either two L293D H-bridge drivers for
bipolar steppers or two ULN2803 for unipolar steppers.
* A 4 MHz resonator, a 10K pull-up resistor, and some connectors.
* A pack of 6 x 1.2V batteries, supplying 7.2V, is linearly regulated to 5V to supply the logic
voltage and the raw unregulated power is applied to the 5V steppers.

L6203 – a full bridge driver

The L6203 is a full bridge driver, which can handle the high peak current up to 5A and
supply voltage up to 48V. The chip can run the motor at 4A continuous with proper heat
sinking.
4424 Driver
Direct motor driving with this chip is only possible for motors that draw less than 50 mA
under load. TTL/CMOS compatible 4424 MOSFET driver chips protect the logic chips,
isolate electrical noise, and prevent potential short-circuits inherently possible in a discrete H-
bridge.
Schottky diodes to protect against overvoltage or undervoltage from the motor. Capacitors to
reduce electrical noise and provide spike power to the driver chips. Pull-up resistors that
prevent unwanted motor movement while the microcontroller powers up or powers down.

Sensors In Robotics
A sensor is an electronic device that transfers a physical phenomenon
(temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.) into an electrical signal.

Sensors in Robotics are used for both internal feedback control and external interaction with
the outside environment.

Desirable Features of Sensors

• Accuracy.
• Precision.
• Operating range.
• Speed of response.
• Calibration.
• Reliability.
• Cost.
• Ease of operation.

Potentiometers
The general idea is that the device consists of a movable tap along two
fixed ends. As the tap is moved, the resistance changes. The resistance
between the two ends is fixed, but the resistance between the movable part and either end
varies as the part is moved.
In robotics, pots are commonly used to sense and tune position for sliding and rotating
mechanisms.

Switch Sensors
Switches are the simplest sensors of all. They work without processing, at the electronics
level. Switches measure physical contact. Their general underlying principle is that of an
open vs. closed circuit. If a switch is open, no current can flow; if it is closed, current can
flow and be detected.
Principle of Switch Sensors
Contact sensors: detect when the sensor has contacted another object.
 Limit sensors: detect when a mechanism has moved to the end of its
range.
 Shaft encoder sensors: detects how many times a shaft turns by having a switch click
(open/close) every time the shaft turns.

Sensors II
Shaft Encoding
Shaft encoders measure the angular rotation of an axle providing position and/or velocity
info. To detect a complete or partial rotation, we have to mark the turning element. This is
usually done by attaching a round disk to the shaft, and cutting notches into it. A light emitter
and detector are placed on each side of the disk, so that as the notch passes between them, the
light passes, and is detected; where there is no notch in the disk, no light passes. Usually,
many notches are cut into the disk, and the light hits impacting the detector are counted.

Encoder
An alternative to cutting notches in the disk is to paint the disk with black and white wedges,
and measure the reflectance. In this case, the emitter and the detector are on the same side of
the disk. In either case, the output of the sensor is going to be a wave function of the light
intensity. This can then be processes to produce the speed, by counting the peaks of the
waves.

Shaft encoding measures both position and rotational velocity, by subtracting the difference
in the position readings after each time interval. Velocity, on the other hand, tells us how fast
a robot is moving, or if it is moving at all.

Shaft Encoders
There are multiple ways to use this measure the speed of a driven (active) wheel, use a
passive wheel that is dragged by the robot (measure forward progress) We can combine the
position and velocity information to do more sophisticated things:
1. move in a straight line
2. rotate by an exact amount.

Note, however, that doing such things is quite difficult, because wheels tend to slip (effector
noise and error) and slide and there is usually some slop and backlash in the gearing
mechanism. Shaft encoders can provide feedback to correct the errors, but having some error
is unavoidable.
Ultrasonic Sensors
Ultrasonic sensors are used in wide range due to some considerations:
• very cheap in compare with other type of detectors.
• relatively have a good sensitivity
• available in different shapes.

Ultrasonic sensors measure the distance or presence of target objects by sending a pulsed
ultrasound wave at the object and then measuring the time for the sound echo to return.
Knowing the speed of sound, the
sensor can determine the distance of the object.

Ultrasonic Distance Sensing

Ultrasound sensing is based on the time-of-flight principle. The emitter produces a sonar of
sound, which travels away from the source, and, if it encounters barriers, reflects from them
and returns to the
microphone. The amount of time it takes for the sound beam to come back is tracked and is
used to compute the distance the sound traveled.
Sound wave travels with is a constant speed, which varies slightly based on ambient
temperature. At room temperature, sound travels at 1.12 feet per millisecond.

Ultrasonic Sensors Applications

*Long sonar readings can be very inaccurate, as they may result from
false rather than accurate reflections For example, a robot approaching a wall at a steep angle
may not see the wall at all, and collide with it!
*Sonar sensors have been successfully used for very sophisticated robotics applications,
including terrain and indoor mapping, and remain a very popular sensor choice in mobile
robotics.

One can find ultrasound used in a variety of other applications; the best known one is ranging
in submarines. The sonars there have much more focused and have longer-range beams.
Simpler and more mundane applications involve automated “tapemeasures”, height measures,
burglar alarms, etc.

Light Sensors
Light sensors measure the amount of light impacting a photocell, which is basically a
resistive sensor. The resistance of a photocell is
low when it is brightly illuminated, it is high when it is dark.

Light sensors can measure:

 Light intensity (how light/dark it is)
 Differential intensity(difference between photocells)
 Break-beam (change/drop in intensity)

Optical Sensors
Optical sensors consists of an emitter and a detector. Depending of the arrangement of
emitter and detector relative to each other, we can get two types of sensors:
 Reflective sensors (the emitter and the detector are next to each other, separated by a
barrier; objects are detected when the light is reflected off them and back into the detector)
 Break-beam sensors (the emitter and the detector face each other; objects are detected if
they interrupt the beam of light between the emitter and the detector)

The emitter is usually made out of a light-emitting diode (an LED), and the detector is
usually a photodiode/phototransistor in Reflective
optical sensors. A light bulb in combination with a photocell can make a break-beam sensor.

Light Reflective Sensors

Light reflectivity depends on the color (and other properties) of a surface. It may be harder
(less reliable) to detect darker objects this way than lighter ones. In the case of object
distance, lighter objects that are farther away will seem closer than darker objects that are not
as far away.

What can be done with light reflectivity?

 object presence detection
 object distance detection
 surface feature detection (finding/following markers/tape)
 wall/boundary tracking
 rotational shaft encoding (using encoder wheels with ridges or black & white color)
 bar code decoding

Light Sensors Calibration

Source of noise in light sensors is ambient light. The best thing to do is subtract the ambient
light level out of the sensor reading, in order to detect the actual change in the reflected light,
not the ambient light. This done by taking two readings of the detector, one with the emitter
on, and one with it off, and subtracting the two values from each other. The result is the
ambient light level, which can then be subtracted from future readings. This process is called
sensor calibration.

Beam-break Sensors
Any pair of compatible emitter-detector devices can be used to produce such a sensors, for
example: an incandescent flashlight bulb and a photocell, red LEDs and visible-light-
sensitive photo-transistors or infra-red IR emitters and detectors

Infra Red Sensors

Infra red sensors are a type of light sensors, which function in the infra red part of the
frequency spectrum. IR sensors are active sensors: they consist of an emitter and a receiver.
IR sensors are used in the same ways that visible light sensors: as break-beams and as
reflectance
sensors.

IR is preferable to visible light in robotics applications because it suffers a bit less from
ambient interference, because it can be easily
modulated, and simply because it is not visible.

Voice Recognition
Voice recognition
This process involves determining what is said and taking an action based on the perceived
information. Voice recognition systems generally work on the frequency content of the
spoken words. Any signal may be decomposed into a series of sines & cosines of different
frequencies at different amplitudes.

It is assumed that every word (letter), when decomposed into the constituent frequencies, will
have a unique signature composed of its major frequencies, which allow the system to
recognize the word. The user must train the system by speaking the words a priori to allow
the
system to create a look up table of the major frequencies of the spoken
words.

When a word is spoken and its frequencies determined, the result is

compared with the look up table. If a close match is found, the word is
recognized. A universal system that recognizes all accents and variations in speaking may not
be either possible or useful.
For better accuracy, it is necessary to train the system with more repetitions. The more
accurate the frequencies, the narrower the allowable variations. This means that if the system
tries to match
many frequencies for better accuracy, in the presence of any noise or any variations in the
spoken words, the system will not be
able to recognize the word.

On the other hand, if a limited number of frequencies is matched in order to allow for
variations, then it may mix the words with
other similar words.

Many robots have been equipped with voicerecognition systems in order to communicate
with the users. In most cases, the robot is trained by the user and it can recognize words that
trigger a certain action in response. When the voice-recognition system recognizes the word,
it will send a signal to the controller, which, in turn, will run the
robot as desired.

Voice Synthesizers
Voice synthesis is accomplished in two different ways:
 One is to recreate each word by combining phonemes and vowels:
this can be accomplished with commercially available phonemes chip
and a corresponding program. Although this type of system can
reproduce any word, it sounds unnatural and machine like.

 The alternative is to record the words that the system may need
to synthesize and to access them from memory or tape as needed. Although this system
sounds very natural, it is limited. As long as all the words that the machine needs to say are
known a priori, this system can be used.

Vision Systems
Vision
Vision is the ability to see and recognize objects by collecting the light reflected of these
objects into an image and processing that image. Robot vision makes use of computers or
other electronic hardware to analyze visual images and recognize objects of importance in the
current application of the robot.

Image
An electronic image is an array of pixels that has been digitized into the memory of a
computer. A binary number is stored in each pixel to represent the intensity and possibly the
wavelength of the light falling on the part of the image.
Manufacturing Tasks
Selecting parts that are randomly oriented from a conveyor. Parts identification. Limited
inspection. Visual servoing & Navigation.

Classification of Vision Systems

Two-dimensional, or three-dimensional model of the scene. According to the number of gray
levells:
Binary image (Black and white).
Gray image.
Color Image (RGB image).

Components of Vision Systems

The camera, and digitizing hardware,
A digital computer, Hardware and software necessary to interface them.

Image Processing
Image processing relates to the preparation of an image for later
analysis and use. Image processing is the collection of routines & techniques that improve,
simplify, enhance, or otherwise alter an image.

Image Analysis
Image analysis ids the collection of processes in which a captured
image that is prepared by image processing is analyzed in order to
extract information about the image and to identify objects or facts about the object or its
environment.
Histogram Of Images
A histogram is a representation of the total number of pixels of an image at each gray level.
Histogram information can help in determining a cutoff point when an image is to be
transformed into binary values.

Thresholding
Thresholding is the process of dividing an image into different levels by picking a certain
grayness level as a threshold, comparing each pixel value with the threshold, and then
assigning the pixel to the different levels, depending on whether the pixel’s grayness level is
below or above the threshold level.

Connectivity Paths
Connectivity establishes whether neighbouring pixels have the same properties, such as being
of the same region, coming from the same object, having a similar texture.
Three fundamental connectivity paths for two-dimensional image processing & analysis:
+4 or x4 connectivity
H6 or V6 connectivity
8 connectivity

Filtering Techniques
Frequency-related techniques operate on the Fourier Transform of the signal, Spatial-domain
techniques operate on the image at the pixel
level.

Vision Systems II
Noise Reduction
Noises net effect is a corrupted image that needs to be preprocessed to reduce or eliminate the
noise. Systematic noises come from dirty lenses, faulty electronic components, and low
resolution. Random noises caused by environmental effects or bad lighting.

Noise Reduction Operations

Convolution masks
Image averaging
Frequency domain
Median filters

Convolution Masks
The noise is reduced by using masks. Create masks that behave like a lowpass filter, such that
the higher frequencies of an image are attenuated while the lower frequencies are not changed
very much.

Image Averaging
A number of images of the exact same scene are averaged together. This technique is time
consuming. This technique is not suitable for operations that are dynamic and change rapidly.
It is more effective with an increased number of images. It is usefull for random noise.

Frequency Domain
When the Fourier transform of an image is calculated, the frequency
spectrum might show a clear frequency for the noise, which in any cases can be selectively
eliminated by proper filtering.

Median Filters
In median filter the value of the pixel is replaced by the median of the values of the pixels in
a mask around the given pixel, stored in ascending order. A median is the value such that half
of the values
in the set are below and half are above the median. The median is stronger in eliminating
spikelike noises without blurring the object or decreasing the overall sharpness of the image.
The median is independent of the value of any single pixel in the set.

Edge Detection
Class of routines and techniques that operate on an image and result in a line drawing of the
image. That requires much less memory to be stored, much simpler to be processed, and
saves in computation and storage costs.

The lines represent changes in values such as cross section of planes, intersections of
planes,…. All techniques used operate on differences between the gray levels of pixels or
group of pixels through masks or thresholds.

Region Growing
These are techniques of segmentation. Through these techniques an attempt is made to
separate the different parts of an image into components with similar characteristics that can
be used in further analysis. Segmentation by regions will result in complete and closed
boundaries.

Regios Growing Techniques

Two approaches are used for region segmentation:
Region growing by similar attributes, such as grey-level ranges or other similarities.
Region splitting into smaller areas by using finer differences.

Image Analysis
A collection of operations and techniques that are used to extract
information from images. Among these are feature extraction, object recognition, analysis of
the position, size, orientation, and extraction of depth information.

Feature Extraction
In vision applications distinguishing one object from another is accomplished by means of
features that uniquely characterize the object. A feature [area, diameter, perimeter], is a single
parameter that permits ease of comparison and identification. An important objective in
selecting these features is that the features should not depend on position or orientation.

Feature Extraction Techniques

The techniques available to extract feature values for twodimensional
cases can be roughly categorized as those that deal with boundary features and those that deal
with area features.
Object Recognition
The next step in image data processing is to identify the object the
image represents. This identification is accomplished using the extracted feature information
described. The recognition algorithm must be powerful enough to uniquely identify the
object.
Object recognition by Features
This may include gray-level histogram, morphological features such as area, perimeter,
number of holes, eccentricity, cord length, moments,…. The information extracted is
compares with a prior information about the object, which may be in a lookup table.

Basic Morphological Features Used For Object Identification

The average, maximum, or minimum gray levels.
The perimeter, area, diameter of an object, number of holes it has and other morphological
characteristics.
The minimum aspect ratio (the ratio of the width to the length of a rectangle enclosed about
the object). Thinness [(perimeter)^2/area or diameter/area] and Moments.

Robot Control Systems

Basic Concepts of Robot control

Robot Control System Task

The task of a robot control system is to execute the planned sequence of motions and forces
in the presence of unforseen errors.

Errors can arise from:

– inaccuracies in the model of the robot,
– tolerances in the workpiece,
– static friction in joints,
– mechanical compliance in linkages,
– electrical noise on transducer signals, and
– limitations in the precision of computation.

Controlled Variables
In both Cartesian and joint spaces, we require precise control of: Position, Velocity, Force
and Torque.

Robot Control Techniques

Open Loop Control (Nonservo Control)

No Feedback! Basic control suitable for systems with simple loads,
Tight speed control is not required, no position or rate-of-change sensors, on each axis, there
is a fixed mechanical stop to set the endpoint of the robot, its called “stop-to-stop” or “pick-
and-place” systems.

The desired change in a parameter is calculated (joint angles), The actuator energy needed to
achieve that change is determined, and the amount of energy is applied to the actuator. If the
model is correct and there are no disturbances, the desired change is achieved.

Feedback Control Loop

Determine rotor position and/or speed from one or more sensors. Position of robot arm is
monitored by a position sensor, power to the actuator is altered so that the movement of the
arm conforms to the
desired path in terms of direction and/or velocity. Errors in positioning are corrected.

Feedforward Control
It is a control, where a model is used to predict how much action to take, or the amount of
energy to use. It is used to predict actuator settings for processes where feedback signals are
delayed and in processes where the dynamic effects of disturbances must be reduced.

Adaptive Control
This control uses feedback to update the model of the process based upon the results of
previous actions. The measurements of the results of previous actions are used to adapt the
process model to correct for changes in the process and errors in the model. This type of
adaption corrects for errors in the model due to long-term variations in the environment but it
cannot correct for dynamic changes caused by local disturbances.

Dynamic Effects in Robot Control

The robot’s transfer function (motor + linkages) continually changes due to the nonlinearities
in the robot.
* These nonlinearities include changing inertial loads, coupling between joints, changes in
gravitational torque, gear backlash, shaft eccentricity, mass imbalance, inherent vibrations
and friction.
The transfer function of a robot joint/linkage system changes with
configuration due to varying inertial and gravitational loads. Unless the control system
corrects for these non-linear dynamics, the
response and stability of the joint controllers change with configuration.

The dynamic effects which have the most impact on control loop stability are due to changing
mass or configuration.

* The torque required to balance gravitational load changes as the configuration of the
manipulator changes.

* The inertias of the robot linkages, as seen by an actuator, change rapidly as the
configuration changes.
* The inertia changes whenever an object is picked up or put down.

Increasing the inertia, reduces the open-loop gain (Ko)and shifts the left pole (- α) towards
the origin with the result that a critically damped system becomes underdamped.

The two poles that were located together on the real axis, in the closed-loop transfer function,
move apart and become complex. Increasing the friction moves the open-loop pole away
from the origin, and the closed-loop response is overdamped.

Position Control
Controlling Joint Position
When controlling joint position with a DC motor, a Proportional plus velocity control law
achieves fast, stable response with minimum error.

Error can be minimized by:

- increasing the gain,
- using a pulse-width modulated power amplifier,
- adding some integral to the control law.

Control Architectures
There have been a number of different architectures for navigation and control of AMRs
proposed to cope with the named problems of uncertainty and complexity.
There have two main groups of them:
–model-based architectures,
–sensor-based architectures.
They generally differ in the sources of information used for planning and controlling
movement of the robot. While the model-based approaches rely on a stored global map,
sensor-based ones use continuous local data obtained from sensors.

IntellIgent Control systems

In the past two decades, robotics research has concentrated on development of intelligent
navigation and control system enabling effective use of information about the operational
space to plan and perform the robot’s operation.

Intelligent Control System Properties:

1) Interact with its environment, Make decision when things go wrong during the work cycle,
2} Communicate with human beings,
3) Make computations.
4) Operate in response to advanced sensors.

Autonomous Robot Control

The basic task of autonomous robot is to navigate from an initial

position to a desired target position. To achieve the goals of autonomy, an intelligent control
system must be designed to manage the robot’s operation.

Autonomy of robots can range from remote controlled means, through program controlled
ones, to completely autonomous mobile robots. An aim of intelligent control research is to
develop autonomous system that can dynamically interact with the real world.

Force Control
Robot Force Control
In many applications, a robot must explicitly control the force it applies to the object it is
manipulating. The actuators must be controlled to achieve the desired forces.

Joint Torque Control

A force (a vector of three forces and three torques) are controlled in Cartesian space by
controlling torques in joint space. From robot statics, the transformation between joint space
torques and Cartesian
space force is the transpose of the manipulator Jacobian.

Torque in joint space is controlled by controlling the torque applied by each actuator. Torque
can be measured using a sensor (accurate) or calculated from armature current (simple).
Force control using feedback of joint torques is limited by the accuracy of the static model of
the manipulator. To obtain accurate control of the force vector at the end effector, place a
wrist force sensor between the tool plate and the end effector to measure end effector force.
The force transform from the sensor to the end effector is usually simple.

Fuzzy Logic Control

Basically, a fuzzy logic is a large group of boolean logic (degrees of True and False values),
also called partial truth. But instead of dealing in 1 (yes) or 0 (No), it deals with degrees of
truth, close to the possibility theory.

A fuzzy logic controller ( FLC ) is an intelligent control system that smoothly interpolates
between rules. In autonomous systems, tasks are generally performed based on evaluation of
sensor data according to a set of rules/heuristics furnished by a human expert who has learned
them from experience or training.

Resent research and applications employing non-analytical methods of soft computing such
as fuzzy logic and neural networks. Fuzzy logic has proven to be a convenient tool for
handling real-world uncertainty and knowledge representation.

Robot Applications
Robot & Automation
Industrial robots are neither as fast nor as efficient as special-purpose automated machine
tools. However, they are easily retrained or reprogrammed to perform an array of different
tasks, whereas:
An automated special-purpose machine tool can work on only a very limited class of tasks,
and designed to do one task very efficiently.

Choosing among HUMANS, ROBOTS, and AUTOMATION

Some rules can help suggest significant factors to keep in mind.

The first rule to consider is known as the Four D’s of Robotics.
Is the task dirty, dull, dangerous, or difficult?
The second rule recalls the fourth law of robotics: A robot may not leave a human jobless.
A third rule involves asking whether you can find people who are willing to do the job.
A fourth rule is that the use of robots or automation must make short-term and long-term
economic sense.

A task that has to be done only once or a few times and is not dangerous probably is best
done by a human.
A task that has to be done a few hundred to a few hundred thousand times, however, is
probably best done by a flexible automated machine such as an industrial robot.
A task that has to be done 1 million times or more is probably best handled by building a
special-purpose hard automated machine to do it.

Robot Industrial Application

Material handling applications, like:
Material transfer applications
Machine loading/unloading applications
Processing applications, for example:
Welding
Painting
Assembly.
Inspection.