College of Engineering

Industrial Robotics
Chapter 8

© 2016 Pearson Education, Ltd.

Textbook: Automation, Production Systems, and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, Fourth Edition, by Mikell P. Groover.

Course: IE 461 1
Chapter Contents College of Engineering

1. Robot Anatomy and Related Attributes

2. Robot Control Systems
3. End Effectors
4. Applications of Industrial Robots
5. Robot Programming
6. Robot Accuracy and Repeatability

Course: IE 461 2
Industrial Robot Definition College of Engineering

An automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator

programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place
or mobile for use in industrial automation applications (ISO 8373)
• Why industrial robots are important:
• Robots can be substituted for humans in hazardous or uncomfortable work
environments.
• A robot performs its work cycle with a consistency and repeatability that cannot
be attained by humans.
• Robots can be reprogrammed. When the production run of the current task is
completed, a robot can be reprogrammed and equipped with the necessary
tooling to perform an altogether different task.
• Robots are controlled by computers and can therefore be connected to other
computer systems to achieve computer integrated manufacturing.

Course: IE 461 3
Robot Anatomy College of Engineering

• Manipulator consists of joints and links

• Joints provide relative motion
• Links are rigid members between joints
• Various joint types: linear and rotary
• Each joint provides a “degree-of-freedom”
• Most robots possess five or six degrees-of-freedom
• Robot manipulator consists of two sections:
• Body-and-arm – for positioning objects in the robot's
work volume Image source:https://3d-
baza.com/robot-manipulator-125938
• Wrist assembly – for orienting objects

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Robot Anatomy College of Engineering

Robot manipulator - a series of joint-link combinations

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Types of Manipulator Joints College of Engineering

• Translational motion
• Linear joint (type L)
• Orthogonal joint (type O)
• Rotary motion
• Rotational joint (type R)
• Twisting joint (type T)
• Revolving joint (type V)

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Translational Motion Joints College of Engineering

(a) Linear joint (translational

telescoping motion)
(type L)

(b) Orthogonal joint

(type O)

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Rotary Motion Joints College of Engineering

(c) Rotational joint (type R)

(d) Twisting joint (type T)

(e) Revolving joint (type V)

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Examples College of Engineering

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Robot Body-and-Arm Configurations College of Engineering

• Five common body-and-arm configurations for industrial

robots:
1. Articulated robot (or jointed-arm robot)
2. Polar configuration
3. Selective Compliance Arm for Robotic Assembly (SCARA)
4. Cartesian coordinate robot
5. Delta robot
• Function of body-and-arm assembly is to position an end
effector (e.g., gripper, tool) in space

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Articulated Robot (Jointed-Arm) College of Engineering

• Notation TRR:

• General configuration of a
human shoulder and arm

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Polar Configuration College of Engineering

• Notation TRL:

• Consists of a sliding arm (L

joint) actuated relative to the
body, which can rotate about
both a vertical axis (T joint)
and horizontal axis (R joint)

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SCARA Robot College of Engineering

• Notation VRO

• SCARA = Selectively Compliant

Assembly Robot Arm

• Similar to jointed-arm robot except

that vertical axes are used for
shoulder and elbow joints to be
compliant in horizontal direction for
vertical insertion tasks

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Cartesian Coordinate Robot College of Engineering

• Notation OOO; LOO O

O
• Consists of three sliding O
joints, two of which are
orthogonal

• Other names include

gantry robot, rectilinear
robot, and x-y-z robot

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Delta Robot College of Engineering

• Consists of three arms attached to an

overhead base

• Each arm consists of two rotational joints

(type R), the first of which is powered and
the second is unpowered (as shown in the
video)

• All three arms are connected to a small

platform below, to which an end effector is
attached

• The delta robot is used for high-speed

movement of small objects, as in product
packaging 3(RRu)

Course: IE 461 There are more manipulator configurations than those described above 15
Wrist Configurations College of Engineering

• The robot’s wrist is used to establish the orientation of the end effector.
• Wrist assembly is attached to end-of-arm
• End effector is attached to wrist assembly
• Function of wrist assembly is to orient end effector
• Body-and-arm determines global position of end effector
• Two or three degrees of freedom:
• Roll, using a T joint to accomplish rotation about the robot’s arm axis
• Pitch, which involves up-and-down rotation, typically using an R joint
• Yaw, which involves right-and-left rotation, also accomplished by means of an R-joint

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Wrist Configuration College of Engineering

• Typical wrist assembly has two or three degrees-of-freedom (shown is a

three degree-of freedom wrist)

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Joint Notation Scheme College of Engineering

• Uses the joint symbols (L, O, R, T, V) to designate joint

types used to construct robot manipulator
• Separates body-and-arm assembly from wrist assembly
using a colon (:)
• Example: TLR : TR

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Joint Notations for Five Arm-and-Body Configurations College of Engineering

Configuration Notation Work Volume

Articulated TRR Partial sphere

Polar TRL Partial sphere
SCARA VRO Cylindrical
Cartesian coordinate OOO Rectangular solid
Delta 3(RRu) Hemisphere

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Work Volume (Work envelope ) College of Engineering

Defined as the three-dimensional space within which the robot can

manipulate the end of its wrist
• Also known as work envelope
• Determined by:
• Number and types of joints
• Ranges of joints
• Physical sizes of links

Understanding various envelopes of Robots:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_canCYWZPsc

• Work envelope vs operating envelope vs dead zone

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Joint Drive Systems College of Engineering

• Electric
• Uses electric motors to actuate individual joints (e.g., servomotors or stepper motors)
• Preferred drive system in today's robots
• Hydraulic
• Uses hydraulic pistons and rotary vane actuators
• Noted for their high power and lift capacity
• Pneumatic
• Typically limited to smaller robots and simple material transfer applications

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Joint Drive Systems College of Engineering

• Motion speed vs Speed of response vs Motion stability

(Acceleration, deceleration, top-rated velocity, weight to be lifted,
required positioning/processing precision)
• Motion speed refers to the absolute velocity of the manipulator at
its end-of-arm. The maximum speed of a large robot is around 2
m/sec.
• Due to confined environment, the robot usually never achieves its
top-rated velocity.
• Sometimes more important than speed is the robot’s capability to
accelerate and decelerate in a controlled manner.

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Joint Drive Systems College of Engineering

• Weight to be lifted and required positioning/processing precision

also affect the speed of the robot motion.
• All above factor decides the speed of response, which in turn
dictates the cycle time.
• Motion stability refers to the amount of overshoot and oscillation
that occurs in the robot motion at the end-of-arm
• More oscillation in the motion is an indication of less stability.
• The problem is that robots with greater stability are inherently
slower in their response, whereas faster robots are generally less
stable.

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Sensors in Robotics College of Engineering

Two basic categories of sensors used in industrial robots:

1. Internal - used to control position and velocity of the
manipulator joints.
2. External - used to coordinate the operation of the robot with
other equipment in the work cell
• Tactile - touch sensors and force sensors
• Proximity - when an object is close to the sensor (range sensor)
• Optical - to detect the presence or absence of objects
• Machine vision - for inspection, parts identification, and guidance
• Other sensors - temperature, voltage, etc.

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End Effectors College of Engineering

The special tooling for a robot that enables it to

perform a specific task
• Two types:
• Grippers – to grasp and manipulate objects (e.g., parts)
during work cycle
• Tools – to perform a process, e.g., spot welding, spray
painting

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Robot Mechanical Gripper College of Engineering

• A two-finger mechanical gripper for grasping rotational parts

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Advances in Mechanical Grippers College of Engineering

• Vacuum grippers
• Magnetized devices
• Dual grippers
• Interchangeable fingers
• Sensory feedback
• To sense presence of object
• To apply a specified force on the object
• Multiple fingered gripper (similar to human hand)
• Standard gripper products that are commercially available to
reduce the amount of custom design required

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Industrial Robot Applications College of Engineering

1. Material handling applications

• Material transfer – pick-and-place,
palletizing/depalletizing
• Machine loading and/or unloading
2. Processing operations
• Spot welding and continuous arc welding
• Spray coating
• Other – waterjet cutting, laser cutting, grinding
Typical part arrangement for a
3. Assembly and inspection robot palletizing operation

4. Robotic 3D printing

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Robotic Arc-Welding Cell College of Engineering

Robot performs
arc welding
operation at one
welding fixture
while worker
changes parts at
the other
workstation

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Robot Application Characteristics College of Engineering

General characteristics of industrial work situations that promote

the use of industrial robots
1. Hazardous work environment for humans
2. Repetitive work cycle
3. Difficult handling task for humans
4. Multishift operations
5. Infrequent changeovers
6. Part position and orientation are established in the work cell

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Robot Control Systems College of Engineering

• Limited sequence control – pick-and-place operations using mechanical

stops to set positions.
• Many pneumatically driven robots are limited-sequence robots, with no servo
controls, and thus speeds are not controlled
• It is usually implemented by setting limits or mechanical stops for each joint
• Playback with point-to-point control – records work cycle as a sequence
of points and speed for those motions, then plays back the sequence
during program execution
• Paths taken between points are not controlled
• Playback with continuous path control – greater memory capacity
and/or interpolation capability to execute paths (in addition to points)
• Interpolation calculations capability is there and speed are controlled
• Intelligent control – exhibits behavior that makes it seem intelligent,
e.g., responds to sensor inputs, makes decisions, communicates with
humans

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Robot Control System College of Engineering

Hierarchical structure of a robot microcomputer controller

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Robot Programming College of Engineering

A robot program can be defined as a path in space to be followed by a

manipulator, combined with peripheral actions that support the work
cycle
• Examples of peripheral actions:
• Opening and closing a gripper
• Performing logical decision making
• Communicating with other piece of equipment in the cell

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Types of Robot Programming College of Engineering

• Leadthrough programming - work cycle is taught to robot by

moving the manipulator through the required motion cycle and
simultaneously recording the program into controller memory for
later playback
• Powered Leadthrough
• Commonly used for playback point-to-point control robots
• It involves the use of a teach pendant to program the robot
• Manual Leadthrough
• Commonly used for playback continuous path control robots
• The operator physically grasp the end-effector and move it through required
motion cycle
• A special programming device often substitutes for the actual robot during the
teach procedure (due to significant mass of actual robot)

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Teach Pendant for Powered Leadthrough Programming College of Engineering

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Leadthrough Programming College of Engineering

Motion programing
• Coordinating the individual joints with the teach pendant is an awkward and
tedious way to enter motion commands to the robot, e.g. trying to drive end-
of-arm for an articulated robot in a straight line
• Therefore, many robots using powered leadthrough provide two alternative
methods for controlling movement
• The names given to these alternatives are (1) world-coordinate system and (2)
tool-coordinate system. OOO Vs TRR
• Motion programming with robot languages usually requires a combination of
textual statements and leadthrough techniques, sometimes referred to as on-
line/off-line programming.
• Textual statements are used to describe the motion, and the leadthrough
methods are used to define the position and orientation of the robot during
and/or at the end of the motion.

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Coordinate Systems College of Engineering

World Coordinate System Tool Coordinate System

Alignment of the axis system is defined

Origin and axes of robot manipulator
relative to the orientation of the wrist
are defined relative to the robot base
faceplate (to which the end effector is
attached)
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Leadthrough Programming Advantages College of Engineering

• Advantages:
• Can readily be learned by shop personnel
• A logical way to teach a robot
• Does not required knowledge of computer programming
• Disadvantages:
• Downtime - Regular production must be interrupted to
program the robot
• Limited programming logic capability
• Not readily compatible with modern computer-based
technologies

Course: IE 461 38
Types of Robot Programming College of Engineering

• Simulation and off-line programming – program is prepared at a

remote computer terminal and downloaded to robot controller
for execution without need for leadthrough methods
• Robot programming languages - uses textual programming
language to enter commands into robot controller

Course: IE 461 39
Simulation and Off-Line Programming College of Engineering

• In conventional usage, robot programming languages still require

some lost production time to define points in the workspace that
are referenced in the program
• They therefore involve on-line/off-line programming
• Advantage of true off-line programming is that the program can be
prepared beforehand and downloaded to the controller with no
lost production time
• Graphical simulation is used to construct a 3-D model of the robot cell in
which locations of the equipment in the cell have been defined previously

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Robot Programming Languages College of Engineering

Textual programming languages provide the opportunity to

perform the following functions that leadthrough programming
cannot readily accomplish:
• Enhanced sensor capabilities
• Improved output capabilities to control external equipment
• Program logic not provided by leadthrough methods
• Computations and data processing similar to computer programming
languages
• Communications with other computer systems

Course: IE 461 41
Motion Programming Commands College of Engineering

• Basic motion statement

MOVE P1 - (The point P1 must be defined by either powered leadthrough or
manual leadthrough, using HERE P1)
• Define a location (point P1)
HERE P1 - used during leadthrough of manipulator
Example of position recording: (236, 158, 65, 0, 0, 0)
• Straight line motion
MOVES P1
• Incremental move (Delta)
DMOVE (4, 125) - (236, 158, 65, 0, 0, 0) to (236, 158, 65, 125, 0, 0)

Course: IE 461 42
Motion Programming Commands College of Engineering

• Approach and depart statements

APPROACH P1, 40 MM
DEPART 40 MM
• Define a path (a series of points connected together for a single move)
DEFINE PATH123 = PATH(P1, P2, P3)
• Move in a define path
MOVE PATH123
• Relative velocity
SPEED 75 – operate at 75% of the initially defined velocity: SPEED 0.5 MPS
EXECUTE PROGRAM1

Course: IE 461 43
Interlock and Sensor Commands College of Engineering

• To implement an Input interlock, a WAIT command is used:

WAIT 20, ON
(i.e. wait until the input signal coming into the robot controller at port 20, e.g. wait for a machine
cycle to complete before unloading)
• To implement an Output interlock, a SIGNAL statement is used:
SIGNAL 21, ON
(would switch on the signal at output port 21, perhaps to actuate the start of an automatic machine
cycle)
• Interlock for continuous monitoring:
REACT 25, SAFESTOP
(This would be useful, for example, in safety monitoring where a sensor is set up to detect the
presence of humans who might wander into the robot’s work volume)

Course: IE 461 44
Gripper Commands College of Engineering

• Basic commands
OPEN
CLOSE
(which cause the gripper to actuate to fully open and fully closed positions)
• Sensor and servo-controlled hands are used for better control
CLOSE 2.0 N
CLOSE 25 MM
• Other special set of statements
• For example:
• Spot welding, Spray painting
• Arc welding; powered spindles

Course: IE 461 45
Robot Accuracy and Repeatability College of Engineering

Three terms used to define precision in robotics, similar to numerical

control precision:
1. Control resolution - capability of robot's positioning system to divide the total
motion range of each joint into closely spaced points (addressable points)
2. Accuracy - capability to position the robot's wrist at a desired location in the
workspace, given the limits of the robot's control resolution
3. Repeatability - capability to position the wrist at a previously taught point in
the workspace. It can be defined as the range of mechanical errors associated
with the axis

Course: IE 461 46
Robot Accuracy and Repeatability College of Engineering

• Factor effecting the Accuracy and Repeatability

• dynamic operation of the robot, e.g., characteristics such as
• speed, payload, and direction of approach will affect the robot’s accuracy and repeatability.
• In some regions of the work volume, the repeatability errors will be larger than in other regions
• E.g., when the L joint is fully extended (any errors in the R or T joints will be larger than when the
linear joint is fully retracted

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Robotic welding without programming – A case study College of Engineering

• Autonomous robotic welding without programming.

• Automatic generation of robot path.
• No robotics programming knowledge required.
• Use of Machine Vision in conjunction with the CAD model of the robotic cell,
controls the robot tool path.

ABAGY ROBOTIC WELDING (https://abagy.com/)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtCoSAKPUCc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G7Xq25TgAc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MaotKSuP0g&t=390s

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Robot-based 3D printing of rockets – A case study College of Engineering

Relativity’s “Terran 1” – World’s first and largest 3D printed rocket

launched to space
(https://www.relativityspace.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz165f1g8-E

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