Automation &

Control
FWT Yr4

Kate Dunne

Introduction
An industrial robot is a general purpose, programmable
machine processing certain human like characteristics
Human characteristics imitated include:
Arm movement
Sensory capabilities
Communication
Decision making

CNC is used to coordinate control of multiple axes (joints

of a robot)

Introduction
Robots are designed to carry out a wide variety of tasks in
comparison to an NC machine.
Typical production applications in the furniture and wood
products industry include assembly, sanding, painting &
surface treatment, milling, packing and palleting.

Industrial robot applications

Industrial situations that lend themselves to the substitution of
human labour with robots include:
1. Hazardous work environment for workers
When the work environment is unsafe, unhealthy,
hazardous, uncomfortable, or otherwise unpleasant
for humans, there is reason to consider an industrial
robot for the work (forging, spray painting, welding)
2. Repetitive work cycle
If the sequence of elements in the cycle is the same, and
the elements consist of relatively simple motions, a
robot is usually capable of performing the work cycle
with greater consistency and repeatability than a
human worker
Greater consistency and repeatability are usually
manifested as higher product quality than can be
achieved in a manual operation

Industrial robot applications

3. Difficult handling for humans
If the task involves the handling of parts or tools that
are heavy or otherwise difficult to manipulate, it is
likely a robot is available that can perform the
operation
Parts or tools that are too heavy for humans to
handle conveniently are well within the load
carrying capability of a robot
4. Multishift operation
In manual operations requiring second and third
shift, substitution of a robot will provide a much
faster financial payback than a single shift
operation- instead of replacing one worker, the robot
replaces two or three workers

Industrial robot applications

5. Frequent changeovers
Most batch or job shop operations require a changeover
of the physical workplace between one job and the next
The time required to make the changeover is nonproductive time since parts are not being made
With robot applications this changeover can take place
very quickly by simply loading different robot
programs and using quick change end effectors
Off line programming of the robot can take place to
further reduce the down time

Furniture Production: advantages

of robots

Wood components are light in weight

Very tight tolerances are generally not required
Large number of components need to be processed
Standard process steps are used
Robots can work constantly and over long periods of time

Furniture Production:
disadvantages of robots
Wood is not a homogeneous material
Dimensions are often not exact
Furniture products are usually not designed for production
by robots
Robots are particularly suited to companies that produce
high volumes of product
A very large investment is required

Robot system
An industrial robot system includes:
Robot manipulator, power supply, and controller
End effectors
Any equipment, devices, and sensors which the robot
is directly interfacing with
Any equipment, devices and sensors required for the
robot to perform its task
Communication interface that is operating and
monitoring the robot, equipment and sensors

Teach Pendent

Power Supply & Controller

ABB Robot Studio

End Effector

Mechanical arm
The arm is a mechanical device driven by either:
Electric-drive motors
Pneumatic devices
Hydraulic actuators
The basic drive elements will be either linear or rotary
actuators

Production tooling
The robot alone has no production capability, but the robot
arm interfaced to production tooling becomes an effective
production system
The tooling to perform the work task is attached to the tool
plate at the end of the arm
Tooling is known as either end-of-arm tooling or end
effectors
If the tooling is an open and close mechanism to grasp
parts, is referred to as a gripper
Examples of end effectors include: spray gun, drill,
router, glue gun, sanding pad etc.

External power supply

A power source is used to drive the arm motion (electrical,
hydraulic, or pneumatic) and electricity for the electronic
controller
Most grippers are operated using compressed air
Large robot arms use hydraulic actuators for motion

Joints & Degrees of freedom

Every joint or movable axis on the arm provides a degree
of freedom
A range of four to seven degrees of freedom is typical for
industrial robots
Only one degree of freedom is associated with each joint
Robots are often classified according to the total number
of degrees of freedom they possess

Joint types
There are five types of joints- two that provide linear
motion and three that provide rotary motion
Linear joint (type L joint)- the relative movement
between the input link and the output link is a linear sliding
motion, with the axes of the two links being parallel
Orthogonal joint (type O joint) this has a linear sliding
motion also, but the input and output links are
perpendicular to each other during the move
Rotational joint (type R joint) this type provides
rotational relative motion, with the axis of rotation
perpendicular to the axes of the input & output links

L Joint
O Joint

Joint types

R Joint
T Joint

V Joint

Groover, M., 2001, Automation, Production Systems, and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing

Joint types
Twisting joint (type T joint) this joint also involves
rotary motion, but the axis of rotation is parallel to the
axes of the two links
Revolving type (type V joint) in this joint type, the axis
of the input link is parallel to the axis of rotation of the
joint, and the axis of the output link is perpendicular to
the axis of rotation
The range for a linear joint is usually less than a metre
The three types of rotary joints may have a range as small
as a few degrees or as large as several complete turns

Work envelope
The space in which the robot gripper can move with no
limitations in the travel

Rehg, JA., 1996, Introduction to Robotics in CIM Systems

Robot Configurations
Robotic joints available are combined for body and arm
assemblies to provide four basic configurations:
Polar
Cylindrical
Cartesian
Jointed Arm

Polar configuration
This configuration consists of a sliding arm (L joint)
actuated relative to the body, that can rotate about a
vertical axis (T joint) and a horizontal axis (R joint)
The polar configuration, requires coordinate motion in
every positioning axes for movement in the X, Y, or Z
directions

Rehg, JA., 1996, Introduction to Robotics in CIM Systems

Polar configuration

Groover, M., 2001, Automation, Production Systems, and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing

Polar configuration
Some of the advantages of the polar configuration are as
follows:
Deep horizontal reach into production machines is
possible
The vertical structure of the machine conserves floor
space
A very rigid structure is possible for large payloads
and good repeatability

Polar configuration
Disadvantage: limited reach to left and right because of
the mechanical constraints that limit the size of the
horizontal actuator
Overcome by mounting the robot on a movable platform
that can be positioned anywhere along the Y coordinate

Cylindrical configuration
This robot configuration consists of a vertical column,
relative to which an arm assembly is moved up or down
The arm can be moved in and out relative to the axis of the
column
A T joint is used to rotate the column about its axis
An L joint is used to move the arm assembly vertically
along the column, while an O joint is used to achieve
radial movement of the arm
A cylindrical geometry robot can move its gripper within a
volume that is described by a cylinder

Cylindrical configuration

Groover, M., 2001, Automation, Production Systems, and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing

Cylindrical configuration
The cylindrical geometry arm is positioned in the work
area by two linear movements in the X and Y direction
Most robots with this geometry cannot rotate at 360
degrees because of mechanical design limitations
The advantages and disadvantages listed for the polar
configuration can also be applied to spherical geometry,
with the following exception
The cylindrical type of arm geometry is particularly useful
when:
Deep horizontal reach is necessary
The manufacturing layout consists of machines to be
serviced by the robot in a circle with a small radius

Cartesian coordinate robot

Other names of this robot include rectilinear robot and xy-z robot
It is made up of three sliding joints, two of which are
orthogonal (O joint) and one is liner (L joint)
A robot with a Cartesian geometry is able to move its
gripper to any position within the cube or rectangle
defined as its work envelope.

Rehg, JA., 1996, Introduction to Robotics in CIM Systems

Cartesian assembly

Groover, M., 2001, Automation, Production Systems, and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing

Cartesian coordinate robot

Cartesian coordinate geometry has the following
advantages:
Very large work envelopes are possible because travel
along the X axis can be increased easily. Systems have
been developed with work envelopes more than 80 feet
long.
Overhead mounting leaves large areas of manufacturing
floor space free for other uses.
Simpler control systems can he used

Cartesian coordinate robot

Disadvantages of this type of robot geometry include:
Access to the work envelope by overhead crane or other
material-handling equipment may be impaired by the
robot-supporting structure
On some models the location of drive mechanisms and
electrical control equipment overhead makes
maintenance more difficult
The primary applications for Cartesian coordinate systems
are in materials handling, parts handling related to machine
loading and unloading, assembly of small systems, and in
electronic printed circuit board assembly

Joint arm robot

This robot manipulator has the general configuration of a
human arm
The jointed arm consists of a vertical column that swivels
about the base using a T joint
At the top of the column is a shoulder joint (R joint) whose
output link connects to an elbow joint (another R joint)
Jointed arm robots have an irregular work envelope
This type of robot has two main variants, vertically
articulated and horizontally articulated

Rehg, JA., 1996, Introduction to Robotics in CIM Systems

Jointed spherical mechanical arm

All six motions are rotational and five of the six are
produced by rotational actuators
The elbow extension is the only rotary motion produced by
a linear actuator
The six motions are divided into two groups
Position motions:
Arm sweep,
Shoulder swivel
Elbow extension
Orientation motions
Pitch
Yaw
Roll

Joint arm robot

The humanlike movements of the jointed-spherical arm
create the following advantages for robotic applications:
Although it occupies a minimum of floor space, the
robot achieves deep horizontal reach
A good size-to-reach ratio is achieved, a result of the
arms ability to fold up when in the retracted position
High positioning mobility of the end-of-arm tooling
allows the arm to reach into enclosures and around
obstructions
This type robot has the drawback, however, that more
sophisticated control requirements result in higher cost for
the machine

Letterfrack:
IRB 120

Jogging

Motion Mode Selection

Linear

Increment Selection

Program Editor Mode

Small increments are used when jogging to an exact position

Medium and large increments are used when general jogging is needed

Program Editor Mode

Move L / Move J
* Recorded position
v150 = a velocity of 150rpm
z = how far from the recorded point the tool moves
Tool number = tool0

Move J/L
Move L is used when the end effector must follow an
exact path.
Move L may require a number of axes motors to work
together to get the end effector to follow an exact path.
This increases the workload of the robot arm and its
controller.
Move J is used for general movement where an exact path
is not important.
The robot arm will use the least amount of axes movement
to get between two points. This often results in the robot
moving in a curve.
This type of movement puts the least amount of effort on
the robot and its controller.

Program Editor Instructions

Zone command

R= 200

* The tool moves away from the recorded

point by an amount set by z.
* Here z is 200 so the tool moves in a tangent
to a sphere about the point with a radius of
200mm
* The tool will move towards the point and
when it reaches the sphere it will start moving
towards the next point.
* The results in a smoother movement path

Writing a Program
1.

2.
3.

Jog to where the arm should be

positioned
Add each position to the program
Select run mode to run the
program

Sections of programs can be

saved as routines and reused later or in other
programs (e.g. I win routine)

Offline programming is when the writing and editing of the program takes place without
being connected to the robot controller
Online programming is when the writing & editing of the program takes place while
connected to the robot controller & in RUN mode

Industrial robot applications

Part position and orientation are established in the work
cell:
Most robots in todays industrial applications do not
have vision capabilities
Their capability to pick up an object during each
work cycle relies on the fact that the part is in a
known position and orientation
A means of presenting the part to the robot at the same
location each cycle must be engineered

Examples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boo-T12hxzE ABB Robots Packaging Furniture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlXh8RvvcuI Robotic Self Healing Chair
http://www.robotics.org/ Robotics related articles
http://www.abb.ie/product/seitp327/83958875abdc94efc12574c2004c32ba.aspx?product
Language=us&country=IE ABB Furniture Applications for Robots (including casket
manufacture)

Bibliography
The content of this lecture is based on material from:
Groover, M., 2001, Automation, Production Systems,
and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 2nd Edition,
Prentice Hall
Rehg, J.A., 1996, Introduction to Robotics in CIM
systems, Prentice Hall