ken@Control.COM (Ken Crater) (06/09/91)
hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) writes: >I'd like to encourage the cross posting of any articles >specifically about industrial robotics to the comp.robotics group. With pleasure... >I'd like to see some "feet on the ground in the real world/make it work on the >shop floor" articles added to the mix. We do *a*lot* of work in the control of robotics, mostly in the plastics industry where parts and "sprues" must be picked out of injection molding machines. (We don't make robots, only the controls.) This is labor-intensive (unskilled) and potentially- dangerous work, and economic justifications can be made for automation (yes, it always comes down to *that*, doesn't it). Although many of these systems would be referred to as "pick-and- place" systems by robot-snobs, as they typically use bang-bang pneumatic actuation, some are more sophisticated servo-based systems to accommodate a variety of mold configurations. I'm detecting a strong trend in these low-end robots to become more flexible, have better operator interfaces, while still maintaining low cost. For example, el-cheapo sprue-pickers which used to have only a few toggle switches on a remote pendant are now equipped with a keypad/message display, and can store a number of configuration programs internally. It seems to me that this opens up the utilization of robotics technology to a much broader range of industries. Does anyone see broad acceptance of robotics taking place in other industries? >The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, M.A., CDP, aka: hollombe@ttidca.tti.com) >Head Robot Wrangler at Citicorp Illegitimis non (robots at Citicorp? Conjures images of an anthropomorphic ATM, peeling tens and twenties off a bankroll...) -- ** Ken Crater__________________________________________ken@control.com ** ** Chair, Bylaws Committee | President ** ** Industrial Computing Society | Control Technology Corporation **