ROBOTICS

A Brief Overview

Report submitted by
Minkul Tekwani , Muzammil Shadab
MSRIT,Bangalore

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ABB, formerly ASEA Brown Boveri, is a Swiss-
Swedish multinational
corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland,
operating mainly in
the power and automation technology areas. ABB
is one of the largest engineering companies as well
as one of the largest conglomerate companies in
the world. ABB has operations in around 100
countries, with approximately 115,000 employees
(2008).

ABB can be broadly divided into 5 divisions

• Power Products
• Power Systems
• Automation Products
• Process Automation
• Robotics

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Robotics Division
ABB has one of the world's largest installed bases
of industrial robots also providing robot software,
peripheral equipment and modular manufacturing
cells. ABB's robots are provided for tasks such
as thermal spraying (plasma, HVOF), welding,
assembly, painting and finishing, picking, packing,
palletizing and machine tending. Key markets
include automotive, plastics,
metal, foundry, packaging, material handling,
and food & beverage industries. In 2006 ABB's
global robotics headquarters moved
to Shanghai, China and in 2007 ABB added a
manufacturing unit for industrial robots in China
serving the local market.

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Reasons to invest in robots
 Reduce operating costs
 Improve product quality and consistency
 Improve quality of work for employees
 Increase production output rates
 Increase product manufacturing flexibility
 Reduce material waste and increase yield
 Comply with safety rules and improve workplace health & safety
 Reduce labour turnover and difficulty of recruiting workers
 Reduce capital costs (inventory, work in progress)
 Save space in high value manufacturing areas

Major Applications of ABB Industrial Robots

Automotive Drilling
Packaging & Palletizing Riveting
Metal Fabrication Fettling
Production of Plastics Machine Tending
Foundry and Forging Pick and Place
Welding(Arc, Spot,Laser) Material Handling
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Painting Measurement
Mechnical cutting Filling
Polishing Food Processing

Competitors of ABB Robots

USA – IBM, General Electric, PUMA Axera

European – BOSCH KUKA NOKIA
Japanese – Fanuc, Nachi, Motoman ,Toshiba

Comparison between Robots and

Humans

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Robot Terminology

• Number of Axes,
• Degrees of freedom,
• Working Envelope,
• Kinematics,
• Carrying Capacity or Payload,
• Speed,
• Acceleration,
• Accuracy,
• Repeatability,
• Motion Control Power Source,
• Drive,
• Compliance,

Types Of Robots

 Cartesian or gantry robot : Cartesian robots have

three linear joints that use the Cartesian coordinate
system (X, Y, and Z). They also may have an attached
wrist to allow for rotational movement. The three
prismatic joints deliver a linear motion along the axis.
 Cylindrical robot : The robot has at least one rotary
joint at the base and at least one prismatic joint to
connect the links. The rotary joint uses a rotational
motion along the joint axis, while the prismatic joint
moves in a linear motion.
• Spherical Robot : The robot whose arm has
two rotary joints and one prismatic
joint and whose axes form a polar coordinate system

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  SCARA: Commonly used in assembly application, this
selectively compliant arm assembly is primarily
cylindrical in design. It features two parallel joints that
provide compliance in one selected plane.
 Articulate: All joints are revolute. Most industrial
robots are of this type.
 Parallel Link: example Stewart’s platform, spider
from Adept

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The main components of the Industrial
Robot manufactured by ABB are
• Manipulator
• Micro Controller
• ToolTip/End Effector/Gripper
• Flex Pendant

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 Major Components of
Manipulator

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 Cut Through View of Tabular
Shaft

Axes 1,2 and 3 are the main axes

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 Axes 4,5 and 6 are the wrist axes

Important Features

➢ 6 Axis Manipulator with 6 degrees of freedom

Generally only 6 axes are present in Industrial Robots,
this is because 6 axes manipulators are the most efficient
and widely used all over the industry.

➢ AC Servo Motors are used in the manipulators

• Permanently magnetized AC servo motors
• High voltage type (400-480V AC) from IRB 66X0/7600
• Low voltage type (262V AC) for small and medium sized
robots
• Higher voltage -> higher RPM for given current to get more
power
• If low voltage: larger drive units with higher currents

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➢ The tubular shaft doesn’t fall under its own weight. When the
mains are switched off the brakes are actuated and this prevents
the falling of manipulators and keeps them in a stable positon

Health and safety policy

To provide a healthy and safe working environment at all sites and facilities and
to take adequate steps to prevent accidents and injury to health arising from the
course of work by minimizing, so far as is reasonably practicable, the causes of
hazards inherent in the working environment.

Eight health and safety "expectations" support the policy and comprise the framework of
the health and safety culture we are pursuing in ABB.

1. Leadership and accountability - clearly defined responsibilities, resources, and

accountability for managers.

2. Managing health and safety risks - at every stage of project, service or manufacturing
life cycle, where meeting national and international standards is the minimum
requirement.

3. Demonstrating health and safety competence so that all managers, employees,

safety advisors and contractors know their responsibilities and have the training and
experience to carry them out.

4. Ensuring safe contractors and business partners by selecting contractors and

suppliers that perform to ABB’s health and safety requirements.

5. Ensuring health and safety is integrated into the processes for managing change,
both globally and locally.

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6. Ensuring a crisis and emergency management system is in place.

7. Ensuring accident analysis and prevention is in place.

8. Routine review of health and safety performance by managers, supported by a

reporting process.

Future Of Robotics
2008: 6.5 million robots in operation world-wide

Japan has the highest robot density

In 2011 more than 18 million robots will populate the world

At the end of 2008 about 1.5 million industrial robots and 5.5 million service robots were
worldwide operating in factories, in dangerous or tedious environment, in hospitals, in private
houses, in public buildings, underwater, underground, on fields, in the air, in the space –
robots are everywhere! Up to the end of 2011 more than 17 million service robots and 1.2
million industrial robots will populate the world, reports the IFR Statistical Department in the
new study “World Robotics 2008”, which was published on Wednesday in Frankfurt.

Future of Industrial robots – technical trends and customer trends

The main customer – the automotive industry – is changing. Significant growth in unit sales
of cars can only be realised in the growing markets of India, Southeast Asia, Russia and
other Eastern European countries. In these countries, demand is mainly for small and lowcost
cars. In the mature car markets of Western Europe, North America, Japan and the Rep.
of Korea, growth in value of turnover is only possible as a result of improvements in
technology. Furthermore, demand for small, economical and low-cost cars as well as for
environmentally-friendly cars is becoming increasingly important also in these markets.
Alternative drive systems are gaining in importance given the rising price of fuel.

Palletizing, packaging, picking and placing has gained rapidly in importance over the past
three years in Europe. Automation in the food and beverage industry– the principal industry
for this application – is very high in Europe. The Americas lag far behind with automation in
this sector. Labour is still cheap in many regions in Asia, therefore the degree of automation
is still not as high as in Europe.

Installations of industrial robots continue to grow between 2008 – 2011

The world market for industrial robots is projected to increase by 4% from 114,365 units in
2007 to 118,900 in 2008. From 2009, it will rise by a yearly average of 4.1% to 134,100 in
2011.
In 2008, Europe will be up by 6% to a new peak level. North America will be down slightly by
1%, while Brazil will continue to grow substantially. Total Americas will stagnate at a high
level. Demand in China, India, ASEAN, Central/Eastern Europe and South America will again
increase at an above-trend rate. Robot supplies will stagnate in Japan, while in the Republic
of Korea growth of about 8% can be expected. Total Asia/Australia will grow by 6%.

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Projections for the period 2008-2011: about 12.1 million units of service robots for
personal use to be sold
It is projected that sales of all types of domestic robots (vacuum cleaning, lawn-mowing,
window cleaning and other types) could reach over 4.6 million units in the period 2008-2011,
with an estimated value of US$3.3 billion.
The size of the market for toy robots and hobby systems is forecast at about 4 million units,
most of which, of course, are very low-priced.
About 3.2 million robots for education and training are expected to be sold in the period
2008-2011. Sales of all types of entertainment and leisure robots are projected at well
beyond 7.3 million units, with a value of about US$1.8billion.

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