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EdwardRedProfessorManufacturing&MechanicalEngineering

Introduction
Robotsareprimarilyconcernedwithgeneratingspecificmotionoftherobotjoints,simultaneously
allowingtoolingorsensorstoperformcertainfunctions,eitherwhenthearmismovingorat
specificoperationalconfigurations.Thearmandattachedtoolingmayperformtheoperations
themselves(suchaspainting)orcarrypartstootherdeviceswhichperformtheoperations.
Newertechnologiesareconcernedwithrobotinteractionswithpartssuchthatinteractionforces
andtorquescanbecontrolled.Thistechnologywillpermitmorerobotapplicationsinassembly,
whichpromisestobeagrowingapplicationarenaforrobotics.
Therearemanyprocesseswhichcanbeusedtocharacterizerobotapplications,suchas:
NoncontactpathfollowingRobotdoesnotcomeincontactwiththeobject,butguidesa
toolsuchasaweldingtoolorspraygunalongapathdescribedrelativetoapart.
ContactpathfollowingRobotfollowsapathwhileperformingsomecontactoperationon
thepartsuchaspolishing,ordeburring.Oftensensorinputsuchasaforceortorquevalue
isusedtodeviatethepathdirection.
RepetitiveconfigurationmovesRobotsimplymovesconsistentlybetweenasetof
configurationsthathavebeentaughtusingateachpendantandperformsthesame
operationonpartsthatpassthroughtheworkcell.Sometimessensorssuchasavision
camerawillbeusedtodeviatetherobotmovestocompensateforlocaldeviationsinthe
partdelivery,orthepartgeometry.
TeleroboticsControlthatoccurswithhumaninteraction,wherethephysicalrobotarmis
removedfromthehumanoperator.
TargetmovesversustaughtmovesIntargetmovestherobottooliscommandedto
movetoapositionandorientationinspacenotphysicallytaught,butknownrelativetothe
baseoftherobot.Inataughtmovetherobotiscommandedtomovetoaconfiguration
previouslytaughtandstored.Targetmovesrequireamathematicalmodeloftherobot
inversekinematics,whereastaughtmovesonlyrequireacontrollercapableofmovingthe
robotjointstotheencodervaluesstoredforthetaughtconfiguration.

KeyTerms
Repeatabilityvariabilityinreturningtothesamepreviouslytaughtposition/configuration
Accuracyvariabilityinmovingtoatargetinspacethathasnotbeenpreviouslytaught
Toolspeedlinearspeedcapabilitywhentoolmovingalongacurvilinearpath
Screwspeedrotationalspeedwhentoolisbeingrotatedaboutanaxisinspace
Jointinterpolatedmotionmotionwherejointtakinglongesttimetomakethejointchange
governsthemotionandtheotherjointsareslowedinproportionsothatalljoints
accomplishtheirjointchangessimultaneouslywiththeslowestjoint
Jointlimitseitherthesoftwareorphysicalhardwarelimitswhichconstraintheoperating
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rangeofajointonarobot.Thesoftwarelimitshaveasmallerrangethanthehardware
limits.
Jointspeedlimitsspeedlimitforrobotjoints,whichlimithowfastthelinksofarobot
maytranslateorrotate.
Pointtopointmotioncharacterizedbystartingandstoppingbetweenconfigurationsoras
thetoolismovedbetweentargets.
Continuouspathmotioncharacterizedbyblendingofmotionbetweenconfigurationsor
targets,usuallywiththelossofpathaccuracyatthetargettransitions,astherobotmoves
betweenconfigurations/targets.
Interpolation(kinematic)capabilitiesrobotusuallycapableofbothforwardandinverse
kinematics.Bothcombinetogivetherobotthecapabilitytomoveinjointspaceandin
Cartesianspace.Wetypicallyrefertothemovesasjoint,linear,orcircularinterpolation.
Forwardkinematicsspecifyingthejointvaluestoaccomplisharobotmovetoanew
configurationinspace.Thesemaynotbesimpleasitseemsbecausesecondaryjoints
suchasfourbarlinkages,ballscrews,etc.mayberequiredtoaccomplishthismotion.
Inversekinematicssolvingamathematicalmodeloftherobotkinematicstodetermine
thenecessaryjointvaluestomovethetooltoadesiredtarget(frame)inspace.Thisis
accomplishedbyframerepresentationwherebyatriad(xyzaxes)isattachedtothetoolon
therobotandatargetframeisattachedtothepartoroperatingpointintheworkcell.The
inversekinematicsdeterminethejointvaluesthatalignthetooltriadwiththetargettriad.
I/Oinput/outputwhichconsistofON/OFFsignalvalues,thresholdvalues,oranalog
signalvalueswhichallowthecontroloforresponsetoexternaldevices/sensorsas
requiredtosequenceworkcelloperations.
ProgramminglanguageThelanguageandlogicalconstructsusedtoprogramthesetof
operationalinstructionsusedtocontrolrobotmovementandinteractwithsensorsand
othercelldevices.
MultitaskingabilitytoprocessmorethanoneprogramatatimeorprocessI/O
concurrently.
Loadcapabilityforceandtorquecapabilityoftherobotatitstoolinterface
TCFtoolorterminalcontrolframe
TCPtool/terminalcontrolpoint
TeachPendantOperatorinterfacedeviceusedtoteach/saverobotconfigurationsand
programsimpleinstructions.

RobotDefinition
"Arobotisareprogrammable,multifunctionalmanipulatordesignedtomovematerial,parts,
tools,orspecializeddevicesthroughvariableprogrammedmotionsfortheperformanceofa
varietyoftasks."(RoboticsInstituteofAmerica)
Notethatcomputercontrolledindustrialmachinetoolsfallwithintherobotdefinition,butpurists
resistreferringtoCNCmachinetoolsasrobots.

WhereUsed&Applied?
Robotsareusedinalmostanyindustrywhererepetitivetasksareinvolved,orthetaskisdifficult
manually,ordangerous,suchas
welding,painting,orsurfacefinishingintheaerospaceorautomotiveindustries
electronicsandconsumerproductsassemblyandinspection
inspectionofpartsbyrobotassistedsensorsorintheformofaCoordinateMeasurement
Machine(CMM)
underwaterandspaceexploration
hazardouswasteremediationingovernmentlabs,nuclearfacilities,andmedicallabs
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RobotTypes
Robotsusuallyhavejointstopositionthetoolandjointstoorientthetool.Grosspositioningis
accomplishedbytheinner(primal)joints,whileorientationisaccomplishedbytheouter(distal)
joints.
Whenclassifyingarobottype,theprimaljointsareused,itbeingunderstoodthattheorientation
jointscanbeaddedtogivetheorientationflexibilityrequired.Thus,thefigureswhichfollowshow
onlythefirstthreejointsintherobottypeclassification.

Figure1Revolute:RRR

Figure2Spherical:RRP

Figure3Cylindrical:PRP

Figure4Rectangular:PPP

Vendors&Costs
Therearenumerousvendorsofrobotsthroughouttheworld,mostnowinJapan.Someofthe
primaryvendorsare:
Fanuc(Japan)
Kuka(Germany)
ABB(Sweden,US)
Adept(US)
Seiko(Japan)
Motoman(Japan)
Costsvarybytheapplication,robotsizeandcomplexity,andthecostsofthesupporting
technologiesinvolved.Robotscanrangefrom$1000tomillionsofdollars,buttheaveragecostof
arobotlieswithinthe$20,000$80,000range.Theintegratedrobotcellusuallycostsseveral
timesthatoftherobot.
Vendorswilltypicallysupplyspecificationsheets,butyoumustbewaryinevaluatingthese
specifications.Vendorsdonotnecessarilyapplythesametestprocedurestogeneratethespec
data.FollowthislinkforsamplespecificationsforaKawasakiJs30/40robot.

SupportingTechnologies
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Thetypesoftechnologiesthatareoftenintegratedwitharobotare:
visionsystems
endofarmtoolingandspecialcompliance/manipulationdevices
weldingtechnologies
opticaldevicessuchaslasers
sensorssuchasacousticalorothertypeproximitysensors.
wristsensorscapableofmeasuringwristforcesandtorques.
controlsoftwareandhardware,suchasAC/DCmotors,encoders,tachometers,amplifiers
partdeliverysystemssuchasconveyors,partfeeders
applicationsoftware,interfacesoftware
realtimeoperatingsystems,,programminglanguages
communicationprotocol/networks
I/OdevicessuchasPLC's(ProgrammableLogicController),eitherdiscreteoranalog

Advantages
Greaterflexibility,reprogrammability,adjustablekinematicdexterity
Greaterresponsetimetoinputsthanhumans
Improvedproductquality
Maximizecapitalintensiveequipmentinmultipleworkshifts
Accidentreduction
Reductionofhazardousexposureforhumanworkers
Automationlesssusceptibletoworkstoppages

Disadvantages
Replacementofhumanlabor
Moreunemployment
Significantretrainingcostsforbothunemployedandusersofnewtechnology
Advertisedtechnologydoesnotalwaysdisclosesomeofthehiddendisadvantages
Hiddencostsbecauseoftheassociatedtechnologythatmustbepurchasedand
integratedintoafunctioningcell.Typically,afunctioningcellwillcost310timesthecost
oftherobot.

Limitations
Assemblydexteritydoesnotmatchthatofhumanbeings,particularlywhereeyehand
coordinationrequired.
Payloadtorobotweightratioispoor,oftenlessthan5%.
Robotstructuralconfigurationsoftenconstrainjointlimitsandthusthetheworkvolume.
Workvolumescanbeconstrainedevenfurtherwhenpartsofsubstantialsizearepicked
uporwhentooling/sensorsaddedtotherobot.
Therobotrepeatabilityand/oraccuracycanconstraintherangeofpotentialapplications.
Theclosedarchitecturesofmostmodernrobotcontrolsystemsmakeitdifficultto
configuretherobotinautomatedcellswhereavarietyofdeviceshavetobeintegrated.

RobotKinematics
Themanipulatorofarobot,ingeneral,isanopenkinematicchain.Sinceitisnotamechanism
requiringonly1inputforcontrolofoutput(position,velocity,etc.)likea4barlinkage,thejoints
mustbecontrolledindividually.

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Figure5Setofseriallinksconnectedbyjoints

Thenumberofdegreesoffreedom(DOF)ofakinematicchainisgovernedbythetypeand
numberofjoints.Manipulatorsgenerallyhavejointswhichpermit1DOFandthus,theDOFofthe
robotequalsthenumberofdisplacinglinkswhichequalsthenumberofjoints.Aunique
manipulatorconfigurationisspecifiedbyasetofuniquejointvalues.
Eventhoughmanyrobotshavejointswhichareconfiguredserially,manyrobotshaveotherjoints
whichactuallyactuatetheprimaryjoints.Forexamplemanyrobotsuse4barlinkagestoactuate
theprimaryjoints.Somtimesthesejointsarereferredtoastheactuationjoints.

HomogeneousTransformation
Thegeneralhomogeneoustransformationisusedtodescribemathematicallythepositionand
orientation(pose)ofaframe(xyztriad)inspacerelativetoanotherframe(sometimescalledbase
axes).Itisrepresentedby4x4matrixHwhereRisa3x3orientationsubmatrixandpisthefourth
columnvector.

H=

(1)

ThecolumnsofHrepresentthefourvectorsdescribingasecondframethefirstthree,when
normalized,arethedirectioncosinesofthereferenced(orsecondary)framerelativetothebase
frame.Thelastvectorlocatesthesecondaryorigin.
Inthemoregeneralcaseofbothrotationanddisplacementthefirst3columnsrepresentthe
secondaryframeaxesorientationwithrespecttothebaseaxesasdeterminedbytheirdirection
cosinesandthefourthcolumnlocatesthesecondaryoriginrelativetothebaseorigin.
IfthereisnorotationthenR=I=theidentity3x3matrix.Thefourthcolumnp(px,py,pz)
representstheorigin(displacement)ofasecondframerelativetoareferenceframe.Ifthereis
rotationonly,thenp=0.
Example1:
Supposethat

H=H(y,90)H(z,90)=

Drawafigurewhichdepictstheorientationoftheframeafterthetworotationsdescribedabove.
Solution:

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Figure6Multiplerotations

ThecolumnsofHrepresent(orientandlocate)asecondaryreferenceframex"y"z"relativetothe
originalxyzframe.

RotationTransformations
Forthespecialcaseofrotationbyanglethetaaboutthexaxis,Rassumestheform
R(x,)=

(2)

Figure7Rotationofavector

Wedesignatetherotatedframebythex'y'z'axesandtheoriginalframebythexyzaxes.The
effectofrotatingutovistochangeitscoordinateswithrespecttothexyzaxesbutnotwith
respecttothex'y'z'axes.

Figure8Rotationaboutthexaxis

Thecoordinatesofvinxyzare

sincethecoordinatesofvinx'y'z'aresameasuinxyz.Thus,v=R(x,)u.
Similarly,rotationabouttheyorzaxisgives

(3)

(4)

MultipleRotations
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Theusualproceduresforlocatingpointsintranslatedandrotatedreferenceframesrelativeto
baseaxesistorotatetheaxesfirst,thentranslatetheoriginor,alternatively,translatetheframe
firstandthenrotateaboutthetranslatedframe,ratherthanthereferenceframe.H(R,p)willbe
usedtodenotethisorder.
Realrigidbodyrotationsofteninvolvemultiplerotations.Thenextexampleshowstheeffectof
tworotationsperformedinorderaboutthebaseframe.
Example2:
Rotateuby90oabout+zand90about+y.Whatarethefinalcoordinatesinxyzaxes?Ifthe
rotationorderischanged,willthefinalcoordinatesbethesame?Letu=[010].
Solution:
v=R(z,90)u
w=R(y,90)v
Thus,
w=R(y,90)R(z,90)uwhichcanbeshownbytheoperation:
w=

Ifwechangedtheorderoftherotations,wewoulddiscoverthatrotationsarenotcommutative!

RelativeTransformations
Statementwithoutproof:
Ifwepostmultiplyatransformationrepresentingaframebyasecondtransformation,wemake
thetransformationwithrespecttotheframeaxesofthefirsttransformation.Premultiplyingthe
frametransformationbythesecondtransformationcausesthetransformationtobemadewith
respecttothebasereferenceframe.
Example3(Paul):
GivenframeC,
C=

andtransformationH,
H=

locateframeX=HCandframeY=CH
Solution:
First,calculateX:

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X=

ThiscanbeillustratedbyFigure9wherewenotethefinalorientationofthex",y",andz"axes
withrespecttothex,y,andzaxes,respectively.

Figure9X=HC

Next,wereversetheordertocalculateY=CH:

Y=

whichcanbeillustratedbythefollowingfigure:

Figure10Y=CH

NotethatpostmultiplyingcausesHtobemaderelativetoframeCratherthanrelativetoXYZ
baseaxes.

ForwardKinematics
Usinghomogeneoustransformationstorelatethejointsfortheseriallinksofarobottheposeofa
toolattheendoftherobotcanbedeterminedbytheequation
T=H1 H2 H3 ...Hn G(5)
whereTlocatesthetoolrelativetotherobotbaseframeandGlocatesthetoolrelativetothelast
joint/linkframe.
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ThejointframesaredescribedrelativetoeachotherbyHandareafunctionofthejointangleifa
rotational(revolute:R)jointorthejointtranslationifasliding(prismatic:P)joint.Notethatthe
jointframesrelativetothepreviousjointframeasdescribedbyHareusuallyorientedsuchthat
therotationortranslationtakesplaceaboutthejointzaxis.
Inforwardkinematicstheamountoftranslationorrotationisspecifieddirectlyandthetoolis
commandedtotheposedescribedmathematicallybyTsinceeachHisknown.Forward
kinematicsisusedinteachpendantprogrammingtodescribetheposeofthetoolonceoneor
morejointvaluesarechangedbyjoggingtherobotthroughtheteachpendantinterface.

InverseKinematics
Inversekinematicsisusedforcontrollingpathfollowingorinsensordirectedmotionwherea
targetcanbedetermined.Thus,inversekinematics(IKforshort)raisestheoppositequestion
fromforwardkinematics:GiventhatIknowthedesiredposeofthetool,whatarethejointvalues
requiredtomovethetooltothepose?
Mathematically,werearrangeequation(4)sothatweisolatethehomogeneoustransformations
whichareafunctionoftheunknownjointvaluesandsomehowsolveforthejointvaluesbythe
followingequation:
(jointvaluesunknown)H1 H2 H3 ...Hn =G1T(6)
whereTisknown.
Question:WhyisGtransferredtotherighthandsideoftheequationasaknownmatrix?
Ifnis6,thentherobothas6degreesoffreedom.Thelargerrobotsusuallyhave6jointstogive
themfullorientationdexterity,buttheinversekinematicsfortheserobotsisusuallymoredifficult.
Regardlessofwhethertherobothas6jointsorless,theIKsolutionprocedurebeginsbytheuser
examiningthecomplextranscendentalequationsthatarisebycomparingeachtermgeneratedby
theresultantproductmatrixonthelefthandsideof(6)withtheknowntermsontherighthand
side(oncethenHmatriceshavebenmultipliedtoarriveatasinglematrix).Sincethereare3x4
=12suchequationsandtypically6(orless)unknownjointvalues,itisobviousthatthe12
equationsarenotallindependent.Theproblemissolvingthesecomplexsetofequationsforthe
unknownjointvalues.
Dependingonthephysicalrobotjointarrangement,somematrixmanipulationsmaketheinverse
kinematicssolutioneasier.Forexample,somerobotscanbesolvedfortheirIKbyrearranging
theformof(6)to
H2 H3 ...Hn=H1 1G1T(7)
Thisorsimilarmanipulationssometimesallowstheusertoisolatejointvaluesinanequation.For
example,theformin(7)willallowtheusertosolveforjoint1insomerobots.Oncejoint1is
determineditbecomeseasiertosolvefortheotherjointvalues.Thereadershouldnotethata
closeexaminationoftherobotgeometryandjointarrangementwillalsoallowinsightintothe
solutionapproach.
Alas,therearemanyrobotsthathaveconfigurationsforwhichanexactIKsolutionsimplycannot
befound.Theserobotscanonlybecommandedinaforwardkinematicsmode.

SingularityandRedundancy
SingularityproblemssurfacewhentryingtocontrolrobotsinCartesianspace.Arobotsingularity
occurswhenrobotaxesareredundant(moreaxesthannecessarytocausethesamemotion)or
whentherobotisincertainconfigurationsthatrequireextremelyhighjointratestomoveatsome
nominalspeedinCartesianspace.
Mostindustrialrobotshave6orlessjoints,thus,redundancyisnotinherenttotheirdesign.
Somerobots,though,dohaveacertainjointarrangementintheirfinalorientationjointsthatcan
leadtoredundancyforcertainorientations.Forexample,somerobotshavethefinalthreejoint
axes(joints4,5,and6inasixaxisrobot)arrangedinaroll,pitch,rollsequence.Ifthepitchjoint
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hasazerovalue,thenthetworolljointsalignwithother.Whenthetargetframerequirearoll
value,thetworolljointshaveinfiniteflexibilitytoaccomplishthisdesiredvalue.Forexample,if
thetargetrequiresarollvalueof20deg,thenthefollowingcombinationsofjoints4and6would
satisfytherollvalue,alongwithaninfiniteadditionalcombinations:(30deg,10deg),(50deg,30
deg),(10deg,10deg),etc.
Mathematically,ajacobianmathematicalmatrixformulationcanbeusedtorelatethemotionin
jointspacetothemotioninCartesianspace.Thesingularityoccurswhentheinversejacobian
becomessingular(determinant=0).

JointInterpolatedMotion
Jointinterpolatedmotionisthedominanttypeofjointmotionwhenmovingtherobotinforward
kinematics.Typically,therobotiscommandedtomovefromthecurrentconfigurationtoanew
setofjointvalues.Obviously,therearenumerouswaystherobotcontrollerecouldchooseto
makethechange.Forexample,therobotcontrollercouldchoosetomovejointonetoitsnew
value,thenjoint2,etc.,untilallthejointshavebeenmovedtotheirnewvalues,butthiswould
takemoretimethannecessary.Forthisreason,jointinterpolatedmotionisthealgorithmof
choice.
Thejointinterpolatedalgorithm
1. examineseachjointforthechangesinjointangles,
2. estimatesthetimetoaccomplisheachjointchangeatthecurrentspeedsetting,giventhe
speedallowablesforeachjoint,
3. determinesthejointwhichwilltakethelongesttimetoaccomplishthejointchange,
4. thenslowstheremainingjointsdownsothatallaccomplishtheirchangeinthesame
period.
Thejointinterpolatedsettingisusuallyanumberbetween0and1whichrepresentsthefractional
%offullspeedforeachjoint.
Example4:
Asimplemechanismhastwojointsdescribedasfollows:
1.Joint1:
Type=Prismatic(sliding)
Jointspeedmaximum=100mm/s
2.Joint2:
Type=Revolute(rotational)
Jointspeedmaximum=180deg/s
Iftherobotjointspeedsettingissetto50%,thenapproximatethetimetomovefroma
configurationof20mm,125.3degtoaconfigurationof134.5mm,34.5deg,andalsodetermine
thejointspeedsindoingso.Whichjointiscontrollingthemotionandwhichisfollowingthe
motion?Neglecttheaccelerationanddecelerationtimes.
Solution:
Joint1experiencesachangeof114.5mminthemovewhilejoint2experiencesachangeof
90.8deg.Atthe50%speedsetting,joint1wouldtake(114.5mm)/[(0.5)(100mm/s)]=2.29sec
tocompletethemove.
Joint2wouldtake|90.8deg/sec|/[(0.5)(180deg/sec)]=1.008sectocompletethemove.
Sincejoint1takesthelongesttime,itcontrolsthemotion.Thus,itwilltake2.29sectocomplete
themoveforbothjoints,causingjoint2tofollowthemotionbyslowingitsrateto90.8deg/2.29
sec=39.65deg/sec.
ReaderProblem:
Asimplexythetarobot(2prismaticjoints,1revolutejoint)hasatoolframeattachedthatcanbe
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describedbytheframeCrelativetotherobotbaseframe.Therobotjointspeedissetat0.6.
DeterminethejointspeedforeachjointandanapproximatetimetomovethetoolframeCtothe
frameHifthejointspeedallowablesforthethreejointsarex:300mm/s,y:300mm/s,andtheta
(rotateaboutanaxisnormaltoxyplane):150deg/s.BothCandHaredescribedrelativetothe
baseframeoftherobot.
C=

H=

RobotProgramming
Mostrobotsarestillprogrammedbymanuallyleadingtherobotsthoughthedesiredpathorto
criticalkeypointsusingadevicecalledateachpendantseethefollowingfigure.

Figure11ATeachPendant(CourtesyofEshedRobotec)

Increasinguseofofflineprogrammingsystemsaretheresultoftheriseofopenarchitecture
systemslikeROBLINE/CODEwhichmakeitmucheasiertointegratedifferentdevicesinacell.
TheCODEsystemisuniqueinthatitincorporatesarealtimemanufacturingdatabaseofnode
objectsthatmaketheprogrammingofsimulatedoractualrobotcellsmuchmoreintuitive.See
thefigurewhichfollows.

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Figure9CODEHierarchicalRealtimeNodeTree
Thesenodescanbeassignedvariousmanufacturingandcontrolattributes,whicharethenused
inthecontrolfunctions.Itisnotnecessarytoprogramtasksintermsofnumbersrather,the
controltasksareprogrammedusingobjectorientedsyntax(seetheexampleprograminthenext
section).
AlsonotefromFigure9thatthenodetreeisdynamic.Thismeansthatbranchesofthetreecan
becutandpasted,allowingforthemostcomplexassemblywherepartsarepickedupbyarobot
andthenmovedorattachedtodifferentpartsoftheworkcell.

RobotProgrammingLanguages
Therearenumerousprogramminglanguagesandinterfacestorobots.Theselanguagesare
typicallyamodificationofaknownprogramminglanguagelikeBasic,Pascal,orC.These
programminglanguagesuseadeviceinterfacetoissuecontrolcommandstothe
servocard/amplifierswhichdrivethephysicalmechanismmotors.Inaddition,theprogramming
interfaceallowstheusertoreadandsenddeviceI/O.
Therearenumerousprogramminglanguages.Afewexamplesare:
DARL/SPELBasiclikelanguagedevelopedbySEIKOwhichusesstatementslikethe
followingtocontrolrobotmotionandI/O:
100MOVET5T7
110DELAY20:SPEED200
120MOVET10T4
130OUTPUT+OG3500
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KARELDevelopedbyFanucandisaPascalderivative.

VALIIDevelopedoriginallybyUnimation.

CODE(alsoknownasRobline)CandAPIlibrariesdevelopedbyBYUandCIMETRIX
andrequirestheusertowriteCprogramsthatcalllibraryfunctions,suchasthe
programexcerptwhichfollows:
#include
#include
#include
#defineOPEN_HAND45.0
#defineCLOSE_HAND50.0
voidmain(void)
{
/*Localvariables*/
serverpeg
mechanisms100,gripper
char*server_name
node_ids100_id,gripper_id
node_idpeg_1_loc,grip_tcf,pallet2,peg_1,pallet
doubleoffset=150.0
if(GetDefaultServer(&server_name)==ERROR)
{
printf("Nodefaultserverfound\n")
exit(1)
}
/*openserver*/
peg=open_server(server_name,SYSTEM_V,0)
set_simrate(peg,0.25)
/*getallnodeIDtobeused*/
get_named_node_id(peg,"s100",&s100_id)
get_named_node_id(peg,"gripper",&gripper_id)
get_named_node_id(peg,"peg_1_loc",&peg_1_loc)
get_named_node_id(peg,"grip_tcf2",&grip_tcf)
get_named_node_id(peg,"pallet2",&pallet2)
get_named_node_id(peg,"peg_1",&peg_1)
get_named_node_id(peg,"pallet",&pallet)
/*openmechanism*/
s100=open_mechanism(peg,s100_id,CONTROL)
set_motion_track(s100,ON)
gripper=open_mechanism(peg,gripper_id,CONTROL)
set_interp_type(s100,JOINT_INTERP)
set_joint_speed(s100,0.25)
set_joint_speed(gripper,0.25)
move_single_axis(gripper,0,OPEN_HAND)
while(1)
{
move_near_node(s100,peg_1_loc,grip_tcf,offset)
move_to_node(s100,peg_1_loc,grip_tcf)
move_single_axis(gripper,0,CLOSE_HAND)
attach_node(peg,peg_1,grip_tcf)
move_away(s100,grip_tcf,offset)
move_rel_node(s100,pallet2,grip_tcf,"xyz",0.,0.,0.,
125.,87.5,175.)
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move_rel_node(s100,pallet2,grip_tcf,"xyz",0.,0.,0.,
125.,87.5,75.0)
move_single_axis(gripper,0,OPEN_HAND)
change_color(peg,peg_1,1.,0.,0.)
attach_node(peg,peg_1,pallet2)
move_away(s100,grip_tcf,offset)
.
.
Thebiggestproblemwithproprietaryprogramminglanguagesisthattheprogramswillnotportto
adifferentmechanismmadebyanothermanufacturer.Thisspellstroubleifyouhavetoreplace
themechanisminacellwithadifferentmechanismbecauseyounowhavetoportthecontrol
programstothenewprogramminglanguage.

RobotStandards
Therearefewstandardsestablishedforrobotics.Theprimarystandardscanbeobtainedfromthe
RoboticsIndustryAssociation(RIA).Thesedealwithrepeatibilityandaccuracydefinitions,with
limitationsandsafetyregulationsappliedtoteachpendants,withinterfaceinformationthat
describestherobotmotioncapabilities,andwithsomeofthewiringcodesusedformotion
controllers.

Summary
Roboticsistheintegrationofcomputersandcontrolledmechanismstomakedevices
reprogrammableandversatile.Modernmathematicrepresentationsareusedinthecontrol
algorithmstoplanrobotictasksandintegratesensorsintothetaskplanning.
Therearedecidedadvantagestousingrobots,namelyflexibilityandperformancequality.The
downsideisthatitdoesinterruptthelaborpoolandrequiresanupgradingoftheeducational
requirementsformanufacturingpersonnel.
Roboticsareusedinmostindustriesandwillbeusedevenmoreinthedecadetocome.In1994
theJapanesepurchasedmorerobotsthantheentireinstalledU.S.base.Nevertheless,theuseof
robotsintheU.S.isgrowingrapidly.

References
JohnJ.Craig,IntroductiontoRobotics,MechanicsandControl,AddisonWesley,1989.
RichardP.Paul,RobotManipulators:Mathematics,Programming,andControl,MITPress,1981.
CharlesJ.Spiteri,RoboticsTechnology,SaundersCollegePublishing,1990.

http://eaal.groups.et.byu.net/html/RoboticsReview/body_robotics_review.html

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