ROBOTICS – OIE 751

Dr. B. Janarthanan
Professor
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Mohamed Sathak A.J. College of Engineering
Syllabus
Syllabus
Syllabus
 INTRODUCTION
• Robotics has its origin in science fiction
• Robo – once creature of science fiction- is
today a realty
• Word robot was coined by a Czech novelist
Karel Capek in a 1920 play titled Rossum’s
Universal Robots (RUR)
• ‘Robota’ in Czech is a word for slave or forced
labour
• Robotics – Study of robots – Branch of
engineering that involves the conception,
design, manufacture and operation of robots.
 INTRODUCTION
• Early robots – confined to industrial
applications – loading-unloading, welding,
spray painting etc.
• Today – ventured right into our homes – as
pets, service robots, helpers, rehabilitation
devices etc.
• Today we have both hard (physical) robots-
like manipulator arms and also soft
(simulated) robots – like virtual characters,
virtual reality etc.
 ROBOT - Meaning
• Oxford : A robot is a machine capable of
carrying out complex series of actions
automatically, especially one programmable
by a computer
• Merriam-Webster: A robot is a device that
automatically performs complicated often
repetitive tasks
 Definition of ROBOT
• The definition adopted by ISO : an industrial robot
is defined to be an “automatically controlled,
reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator,
programmable in three or more axes, which can
be either fixed in place or mobile for use in
industrial automation applications.”
• According to Robotics Industries Association: A
robot is a reprogrammable, multifunctional
manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools
or specialized devices through variable programmed
motions for the performance of a variety of tasks:
 Automation and Robotics
• In Automation, the machine produces a job
following a set of operational sequences, while
a robot can be made to do different jobs at
different times and in different sequence
• An automated machine does not have sensory
feedback to reprogram the predetermined
path
• An automated machine has neither a
knowledge nor intelligence
• Thus a robot is more than an automated
machine
 Automation and Robotics
A machine can qualify as a robot subject to the
following conditions:
1. Reprogrammable
2. Sensing and perception (ability to see and
hear)
3. Function autonomously and/or interact with
human beings
4. Carry out different tasks
 Classes of Automation
There are 3 broad classes of industrial automation:
1. Fixed Automation – used when the volume of
production is very high
2. Programmable Automation – used when the
volume of production is relatively low and there are
variety of products to be made – products are made
in batches
3. Flexible Automation – different products can be
made at the same time on the same manufacturing
system

Of these types, robotics coincides most closely with

programmable automation
 Three Laws of Robotics
Proposed by Sir Issac Asimov
1. A robot should not injure a human being or
life
2. A robot should obey the orders of the master
without conflicting the first law
3. A robot should protect its own existence
without conflicting first and second laws
 Functions of a robot
There are 3 functions:
1.Sensing the environment – eg. Vision, voice,
touch, proximity etc.
2.Decision making based on the information
received from the sensors
3.Performing the task decided
 Robot generations

Based on characteristic breakthroughs in

robot capabilities, the growth of robots can
be grouped into four robot generations
1. First generation(1960 onwards)
2. Second generation (1980 onwards)
3. Third generation (1990 onwards)
4. Fourth generation (2000 onwards)
 Robot Anatomy
• Robot anatomy is concerned with the physical
construction of the body, arm and wrist of the machine
• Relative movements between various components of
the body, arm and wrist are provided by a series of
joints
• These joint movements usually involve either rotating or
sliding motions
• The body, arm and wrist assembly is sometimes called
the manipulator
• Attached to the robot’s wrist is a hand or tool called the
end effector
• The end effector is not considered as part of robot’s
anatomy
Joint Primitives and Serial Linkages
• A robot mechanism is a multi-body system with the
multiple bodies connected together.
• We begin by treating each body as rigid, ignoring
elasticity and any deformations caused by large
load conditions.
• There are two types of primitive connections
between a pair of links
 Basic components of a robot
The various components of a robot are:
1. Base
2. Manipulator arm
3. End-effector
4. Actuators
5. Controller
6. Sensor
Basic components of a robot
 Basic components of a robot
The various components of a robot are:
Base
▪ The base may be fixed or mobile
Manipulator arm
▪ Refers to the body, arm and wrist assembly
▪ There are several designs of arm
▪ The simplest may be two or three axes arm-
the axes is meant to understand independent
movement or degrees of freedom
▪ It has free end where an end-effector or
gripper is attached
 Basic components of a robot
Manipulator arm
• A robot is essentially a movable open chain of
successively coupled bodies with one end fixed to the
ground and the free end containing an end effector
• The bodies of the open chain are usually links of some
lower pairs. The most common types of lower pairs
are:
▪ Revolute pair (R) - 1 DOF
▪ Prismatic pair (P) – 1 DOF
▪ Cylindrical Pair (C) – 2 DOF
▪ Spherical Pair (S) – 3 DOF
▪ Hooke’s Joint (T) – 2 DOF
 Basic components of a robot
End-effector
• An end-effector or simply hand is a system
that links the mechanical portion of the robot
to the parts being handled
• An end-effector acts either as a gripper or as
a tool
• The wide range of gripping methods include
1. Mechanical clamping
2. Magnetic gripping
3. Vacuum (suction) gripping
 Basic components of a robot
Actuators
• The joints of a robot are powered by actuators to
produce either rotation or sliding motions in the
linkage. Actuators are similar to muscles of a
human body.
• There are 3 different types of power drives in
common use:
1. Pneumatic drives:
• Use compressed air
• Advantages – simple construction, inexpensive,
fast and reliable
• Disadvantages – smaller pay loads, delayed
response of the arm
 Basic components of a robot
Actuators
2. Hydraulic drives:
▪ Electric motor pumps fluid (oil) from a
reserve tank to the hydraulic actuators
which are in general double acting
cylinders
▪ Advantages – high payload, easy to
maintain
▪ Disadvantages – expensive, not as accurate
as either pneumatic or electric drives
 Basic components of a robot
Actuators
3. Electric drives:
▪ Clean and quiet with high degree of
accuracy and reliability
▪ Wide range of payload capacity
▪ D.C. servomotors, brushless D.C. motors,
A.C. servomotors and stepper motors are
important electrical drives
 Basic components of a robot
Controller
▪ Controller provides the intelligence that is
necessary to control the manipulator
▪ Controller measure the signals
continuously from the sensors and provide
output signals to the actuators to produce
the desired motion of the manipulator
▪ The controller together with actuator is
called control system
• Open loop
• Closed loop
 Basic components of a robot
Sensors
• Used to measure and determine the state
(position, orientation and velocity) of the
manipulator links
• Also measure and determine the forces and
moments exerted by the manipulated object
• There are two basic types of sensors
I. Tactile sensors
II.Non-tactile sensors
 Basic components of a robot
Sensors
•Tactile sensors
▪Contact sensors- must be brought in contact
with the object to obtain signals
a. Force sensor
b. Torque sensor
c. Touch sensor
d. Position sensor
 Basic components of a robot
Sensors
•Non-Tactile sensors
▪Contactless sensors- sense signals remotely but
only within specified range of distance from the
object
a. Proximity sensors
b. Electro-optical sensors
c. Range imaging sensors
 Robot configuration
• Industrial robots are available in a wide
variety of sizes, shapes and physical
configurations.
• Grouped into four basic configurations
I. Cartesian (rectilinear) configuration
II. Cylindrical configuration
III.Spherical (polar) configuration
IV.Jointed-arm configuration
Robot configuration
 Cartesian configuration
• This configuration uses three perpendicular
slides to construct x,y and z axes
• By moving the three slides relative to one
another, the robot is capable of operating
within a rectangular work volume
• The cartesian devices may be of two types:
a. Cantilevered cartesian
–Limited extension from the support frame
–Less rigid
–Less restricted work space
–But good repeatability and accuracy
 Cartesian configuration (x,y,z)
b. Gantry-style cartesian
– Used when extremely heavy loads must be
precisely moved
– Often mounted on the ceiling
– More rigid but may provide less access to the
workpiece

cantilever
Cartesian configuration (x,y,z)
Example: IBM 7565 Robot.

Advantages:
• Highly accurate & speed,
• Fewer cost,
• Simple operating procedures, and
• High payloads.
Disadvantages:
• Less work envelope, and
• Reduced flexibility.
Work volume (work envelope)

• The work volume, or work envelope, is the

three-dimensional space in which
the robot can manipulate the end of its wrist
• The work envelope means envelope of all
points which can be reached by the tip of the
robot
• Work volume is determined by the number
and types of joints in the manipulator, the
ranges of the various joints, and the physical
size of the links.
Cylindrical configuration (r,θ,z)
 Cylindrical configuration (r,θ,z)
• Cylindrical robots uses a vertical column and a slide
that can be moved up and down along the column
• The arm is attached to the slide so that it can be moved
radially with respect to the column
• By rotating the column, the robot is capable of achieving
a work space that approximates a cylinder
• Usually 360° rotation is not permitted due to restrictions
imposed by drive lines
Example: GMF Model M1A Robot.
Advantages:
• Increased rigidity
• Capacity of carrying high payloads.
Disadvantages:
• Floor space required is more
• Less work volume.
Spherical (polar) configuration (θ,r,φ)
Spherical (polar) configuration (θ,r,φ)
• The polar configuration robots will possess an arm, which
can move up and down. It comprises of a rotational base
along with a pivot.
• It has one linear & two rotary joints that allows the robot to
operate in a spherical work volume.
• Owing to mechanical and/or actuator connection
limitations, the work envelope is a portion of sphere

Example: Unimate 2000 Series Robot.

Advantages:
Long reach capability in the horizontal position.
Disadvantages:
Vertical reach is low.
Jointed-arm configuration (θ,φ,α)
Jointed-arm configuration (θ,φ,α)
• The arm in these configuration robots looks almost
like a human arm.
• It gets three rotary joints and three wrist axes, which
form into six degrees of freedoms.
• As a result, it has the capability to be controlled at
any adjustments in the work space.
• These types of robots are used for performing
several operations like spray painting, spot welding,
arc welding, and more.
Jointed-arm configuration (θ,φ,α)
Example: Cincinnati Milacron T3 776 Robot
Cincinnati Milacron, a major machine tool manufacturer,
developed a robot called T3 (an acronym for "The
Tomorrow Tool"), which was installed in several automotive
plants, and especially in the Volvo plants in Sweden.

Advantages:
• Increased flexibility,
• Huge work volume, and
• Quick operation.
Disadvantages:
• Very expensive,
• Difficult operating procedures, and
• Plenty of components.
SCARA type
 SCARA type
• A subclass of jointed cylindrical manipulator
is SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly
Robot Arm)
• Its shoulder and elbow rotational axes are
vertical
• These devices are relatively inexpensive
and are used in applications that require
rapid and smooth motions
• Rectangular robots – staking modular parts
• Cylindrical robots – inserting I.C.s on PCBs
• Revolute robots – spray painting and spot welding
• Polar robots – die casting and forge presses
Six basic motions (DOF)
The number of independent variables (or
coordinates) required to completely specify
the configuration of the mechanical system.

• Vertical motion
• Radial motion
• Rotational
• Pitch
• Roll
• Yaw
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdvBrKl3SHg
Six basic motions (DOF)

Roll- This is also called wrist swivel, this involves rotation of the wrist mechanism
about the arm axis.

Pitch- It involves up & down rotation of the wrist. This is also called as wrist bend.

Yaw- It involves right or left rotation of the wrist.

Robot specification

• Work envelope
• Load carrying capacity
• Speed of movement
• Repeatability
• Control resolution
• Spatial resolution
• Mechanical errors
• Accuracy
• stability
Speed of Motion
1. Point-to-point (PTP) control robot: is capable of moving
from one point to another point. The locations are recorded in
the control memory. PTP robots do not control the path to get
from one point to the next point. Common applications include
component insertion, spot welding, whole drilling, machine
loading and unloading, and crude assembly operations.
2. Continuous-path (CP) control robot: with CP control, the
robot can stop at any specified point along the controlled path.
All the points along the path must be stored explicitly in the
robot’s control memory. Typical finishing, application gluing,
and arc welding operations.
3. Controlled-path robot: the control equipment can generate
paths of different geometry such as straight lines, circles, and
interpolated curves with a high degree of accuracy. All
controlled-path robots have a servo capability to correct their
path.
Kinematic chains
• Introduction to basic terminology and notation
used in robot geometry and kinematics
• A robot may be thought to consists of a group of
rigid bodies called links connected by joints
• The links are interconnected such that they are
forced to move relative to one another in order to
position end effector
• There are mainly four types of joints that are
found in robot manipulators:
1. Revolute, rotary or pin joint (R)
2. Prismatic or sliding joint (P)
3. Spherical or ball joint (S)
4. Helical or screw joint (H)
Kinematic chains
• Two types of joints mostly used in commercial
manipulators are
1. Revolute joint (R)
2. Prismatic joint (P)
• The links and joints of a manipulator form a
kinematic chain which is open at one end and
connected to the ground at the other
Kinematic chains
- graphical symbols
Kinematic chains
- graphical symbols
Kinematic chains
- graphical symbols
Kinematic chains
- graphical symbols
Mobility (DOF)
The mobility of a chain is the number of degrees of freedom
of the chain.
In a serial chain, the mobility of the chain is easily
calculated. If there are n joints and joint i has a connectivity
fi,

Most industrial robots have either revolute or prismatic joints

(fi = 1) and therefore the mobility or the number of degrees
of freedom of the robot arm is also equal to the number of
joints. Sometimes, an n degree of freedom robot or a robot
with mobility n is also called an n axis robot.
Types of mechanical joints
Revolute joints permit only angular motion between links. Their variations include:
1. Rotational joint (R)
2. Twisting joint (T)
3. Revolving joint (V)
A rotational joint (R) is identified by its motion, rotation about an axis perpendicular
to the adjoining links. Here, the lengths of adjoining links do not change but the
relative position of the links with respect to one another changes as the rotation takes
place.

A twisting joint (T) is also a rotational joint, where the rotation takes place about an
axis that is parallel to both adjoining links.

A revolving joint (V) is another rotational joint, where the rotation takes place about
an axis that is parallel to one of the adjoining links. Usually, the links are aligned
perpendicular to one another at this kind of joint. The rotation involves revolution of
one link about another.
Objectives of using Industrial Robots

1. Reduce production time

2. Minimise labour requirement
3. Raise the quality level of products
4. Increase productivity
5. Improve existing manufacturing processes
6. Enhance the life of production machines
7. Minimise the loss of man-hours on account of
accidents and diseases
8. To make the reliability and applicability of new high
speed production processes and their related
machinery possible
9. To take advantage of fatigue-free continuous
deployment of robots
Advantages of Robots
1. Lifting and moving heavy objects
2. Working in hostile environment
3. Providing repeatability and consistency
4. Working during unfavourable hours
5. Performing dull and monotonous jobs
6. Increasing productivity, safety, efficiency and
quality of products
7. Achieving more accuracy than human beings
8. Can handle hazardous materials
Disadvantages of Robots
1. Lack capability to respond to emergencies
2. Initial and installation costs are high
3. Replace human workers, thus causing
resentment among workers
Applications
• Robots are employed in a wide assortment of
applications in industry.
• Today most of the applications are in manufacturing to
move materials, parts and tools of various types
• Manufacturing task include exploration of space,
defence and medical care
• At sometime in near future, a household robot may
become a mass produced item perhaps as commonplace
as the automobile is today
• Simple toy robot that can perform simple programmable
functions are already in use today
Applications
Industrial robots
Industrial robots are used in an industrial manufacturing environment.
Usually these are articulated arms specifically developed for such
applications as welding, material handling, painting and others.

Domestic or household robots

Robots used at home. This type of robots includes many quite different
devices such as robotic vacuum cleaners, robotic pool cleaners,
sweepers, gutter cleaners and other robots that can do different chores.

Medical robots
Robots used in medicine and medical institutions. First and foremost -
surgery robots. Also, some automated guided vehicles and may be lifting
aides.
Applications
Service robots
Robots that don’t fall into other types gathering robots, robots made to
show off technologies, robots used for research, etc.

Military robots
Robots used in military. This type of robots includes bomb disposal
robots, different transportation robots, reconnaissance drones. Often robots
initially created for military purposes can be used in law enforcement,
search and rescue and other related fields.

Entertainment robots
These are robots used for entertainment. This is a very broad category. It
starts with toy robots or the running alarm clock and ends with real
heavyweights such as articulated robot arms used as motion simulators.
Applications
Space robots
This type would include robots used on the International Space Station, Canadarm
that was used in Shuttles, as well as Mars rovers and other robots used in space.
The Canadarm was a remote-controlled mechanical arm, also known as the Shuttle
Remote Manipulator System (SRMS). During its 30-year career with NASA's
Space Shuttle Program, the robotic arm deployed, captured and repaired satellites,
positioned astronauts, maintained equipment, and moved cargo.
Hobby and competition robots
Most of the hobbyist robots are mobile and made to operate by rolling around on
wheels propelled by electric motors controlled by an on board microprocessor.
Explorer robots
The majority of these robots are completely self-reliant due to their sensory
systems, however they may also be controlled by humans giving orders through
computer commands.

The other types of explorer robots are underground mine exploring robots, seeing
and walking undersea robots, and even bomb defusing robots used by police.
Applications
Laboratory robots
Laboratory robotics is the act of using robots in biology or chemistry labs.
For example, pharmaceutical companies employ robots to move biological or chemical
samples around to synthesize novel chemical entities or to test pharmaceutical value of
existing chemical matter.

Sequence robots
A manipulator which progresses successively through the various stages of an
operation according to the predetermined sequence.

Playback robots

The playback robots are capable of performing a task by teaching the position. These
positions are stored in the memory, and done frequently by the robot. Generally, these
playback robots are employed with a complicated control system. It can be divided into
two important types, namely:
Point to Point control robots, continuous path