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Industrial Robotics - An overview on the use of robots in industrial automation.

Industrial robotics – a multi-purpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes, reprogrammable and automatically controlled, that is what we call an industrial robot. Robotics can be defined as the engineering and use of complete robot systems for manufacturing purposes.

Examples of typical robot applications are: welding automation, arc welding, tig welding, electron beam, spot welding, flux cored welding, robot laser welding, mig welding, resistance welding and plasma cutting. Next industrial robots are also used in material handling applications, examples are: press tending, dispensing, pick and place, machine loading, part transfer, machine tending, palletizing, material handling, packaging and order picking. Finally robots are also being used in the following applications: thermal spray, bonding and sealing, robotic coating, clean-room, robotic assembly, de-burring, polishing, drilling, painting automation, flame spray, material removal and grinding.

Popular robot brand-names are: ABB Robots, Motoman Robots, Nachi Robots, Fanuc Robots, Panasonic Robots, Comau Robots, OTC and Miller Robots, Mitsubishi Robots, Kuka Robots, Yamaha Robots, Deneb Robots, Hyundai Robots, Kawasaki Robots, Shin Meiwa Robots, Esab Robots, Honda Robots, and Lincoln Robots.

Industrial Robotics taken from www.wikipedia.org

Today robots used in industrial robotics are commonly accepted devices on the manufacturing floor. The perception that robots are complex, using complicated programming languages, controllers, and advanced vision sensors, is incorrect. Most systems can be set up using a graphical user interface. Controllers have simplified extensively. Machine vision sensors have become so powerful that set-up takes only one mouse click. And last but not least the prices of robots have dropped enormously.

Since product life cycles tend to become shorter, product customization options increase, and with products shrinking in a way that a woman or a man is unable to finish the assembly manually, robots form the answer to these problems. To ensure that quality demands are being met.

Avoid the following mistakes when it comes to industrial robotics or robot implementation in your production process.Analyse the entire production process and build a tolerance map. The tolerance of every part should be clear before starting the project. Decide on how the assemblies and parts are going to be presented to the robot. In order to yield the fastest cycle time, the shortest distance between two points is not always the answer. Calibration should be considered, make sure you understand the calibration process. Model the gripper so that the part is secured after pick-up. Do not try to save on lighting and optics, use robust back-lighting when needed. Use strobe lighting or shuttered cameras, when the application involves a conveyor belt, to avoid blurred images. You need to select your robot carefully. Make sure that you mount your robot properly. From the start of your project, please consider also the safety implications, to fully meet the safety requirements.

When you think all this is a little bit too much for your company to deal with, consider hiring an integrator, like RobotWorx. RobotWorx is an integrator of industrial robots and robotic systems for factory automation applications. An alternative maybe to hire an independent automation consultant. Visit this web site for further information. http://www.automate-your-factory.com/consultant.html

You could also lease your robots. The value of your equipment and technology comes from using it, not owning it. When acquiring assets the best rule to remember is to own assets that appreciate and to lease assets that depreciate. You can buy your leased asset at the end of the lease for as little as $1.00!

ABB Robot taken from www.abb.com

Industrial Robotics Return to Industrial Automation Systems