Wholesale & Quote
Orders & Worldwide
Orders & Worldwide
Exploring the Crucial Role of Industrial Robot Computer Units
I. What is an Industrial Robot Computer Unit ？A Brief introduction.
By an Industrial Robot Computer Unit we don’t mean either a laptop computer or a Desktop computer connected to a robot but we mean a smart Control Cabinet simply known as a Robot Controller.
Most of the robot manufacturers also made different types of robot controllers of which the famous brands are,
- Yamaha robot controllers (Yamaha Robotics, Japan),
- Kawasaki robot controllers (Kawasaki Robotics, Japan),
- KUKA robot controllers (KUKA AG, Germany),
- ABB robot controllers (ABB Robotics, Sweden),
- Yaskawa Motoman controllers (Yaskawa Motoman, China),
- Shibauru robot controllers (Shibauru Machine, Japan),
- Denso robot controllers (Denso Robotics, Japan),
- Nachi robot controllers (Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp, Japan),
- IGM robot controllers (IGM Robotics, Austria)
- Stäubli robot controllers (Stäubli Robotics, Switzerland).
A modern day Robot Controller is an integrated intelligent unit consisting of Diodes, Resistors, Electronic Relays, Cut-out circuit Breakers, In/Out Terminals (for USB, MDI, Teach pendant, Computer Terminal) heat sinks, Printed Circuit Boards (PCB’s), heavy duty cooling fans, Variable Voltage (100V-260V) Auto Power Supply , Micro-Processor & lot of other Electronic parts.
Hence it is obvious that an Industrial Robot Controller is the Brain of the robot as it delivers software instructions for the overall operation of an industrial robot which is crucial for industrial manufacturing in almost all sectors of today’s diversified life in which more is needed for less effort as such a robot does it always.
II. A More Detailed Study of “Industrial Robots”.
A. Evolution and Trends in Industrial Robotics.
Likewise in every field of daily life the modern day industrial robot has come a long way. The basic concept of a robot is since 1950’s. George Devol started the first robot based company in 1956 by the name of Unimation after he filed in 1954 for the first industrial robot manufacture-ship rights. Thus George Devol got patented first industrial robot. The industrial robot developed by George Devol simply transferred objects within a working space of just 12 feet.
Nowadays modern day Industrial Robots are called Manipulators. Their Specialized feature is their unique structure in shape of a six joints or axis Articulated Arm i.e., SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) for a variety of robust industrial applications e.g., Sorting, Labeling, Case Erecting, Tape/Packing inspection, Single-line Palletizing, Multi-line Palletizing, De-Palletizing Besides Heavy work in an Automobile Assembly Fully Automated Plant like, Cutting, Tooling, Parts Jointing, Painting, Electric Arc/Laser welding & Final Assembly of Multiple parts in an Automobile.
B. Key Characteristics of Industrial Robot Computer Units.
The basic advantage of an industrial robot Control Cabinet/Controller is its versatility of easy use. With a Teach Pendant we can easily update the robot controller with the latest software for the maximum throughput functions of the industrial robot. The robot controllers also act as Force & Speed limiters so that robot safely works around working personnel besides work repeatability, accuracy & a fast operating rate.
III. Definition of Industrial Robot Computer Units.
A. Overview of Industrial Robot Computer Units.
To control/run an Industrial Robot a Control Cabinet/A Controller is mainly used but sometimes in some special cases an Additional Digital Device i.e., A Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is also used for assisting a robot Controller in real-time e.g., Siemens Simatic PLC’s are used widely all over the world in Industrial Automation.
Fully Automated Manufacturing Plants are totally controlled by powerful computerized control systems that require very little human intervention.
B. Role of Computer Units in Industrial Robot Systems.
Modern day Manufacturing systems are governed and simultaneously run by Many Controllers & more Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC’s) at the same time that coordinate the entire process providing Input/Output exchange, Multiple task sequencing, and any robot action start triggering in a sequential style/manner.
So to control, Run & fully operate an Industrial Robot there are three types of Digital control devices. The first device is the Control Cabinet/Controller, then a PLC is also a part of the whole manufacturing process & Small Box like Cabinet module called a Drive is also attached to whole hardware system.
So it literally means that an Industrial Robot full automation & operation is a multiplex process carried by three devices in real Time 1: a control cabinet/controller 2: a PLC & 3: A very small standalone module known as Drive. These three devices as a whole control & run an Industrial Robot in any manner, style or position.
IV. Different Functions of Computer Units.
A. Image Processing and Recognition.
Modern day Industrial Robotics are day by day heavily using modernized techniques of image processing. By using the image processing techniques the professionals solve the most complexities of Industrial Robotics. For Digital Imagery use in industrial robotics first of all Digital images are acquired From Special Digital Cameras & are further digitally processed for use in Systematic robot image recognition.
For Example in robots assisted automobile manufacturing Digital images stored in Controller is mostly for Auto-Detection of an automobile part by robot precision sensors for further action & manufacturing e.g., that can be a Rim, Crankshaft, Door, Engine Block by also taking the help of odometry algorithm in stereo visual shape.
B. Motion Planning and Control.
A robot motion planning means the determination of an easy path for an industrial robot free movement in the most efficient way. The configuration of an industrial robot is generally described by a number of varying factors. For an industrial robot these are typically the different positions and multiple direction of the robot.
For an Articulated Industrial Robot Arm there are Multiple & different position changes of the different joints of an industrial robot arm. A change in motion for a robot therefore means as a path in the configuration space. Such a path should be a part of robot configurations in which we observe no collision between the robot and the free available space around the robot in motion.
C. Data Processing and Analysis.
igus® is the latest robot control software besides C, C++, Python programming languages can also be used to build Robot Software’s. Matlab, Octave are Open-Source Software’s used in industrial Robotics Control enabling easy robot programming & control. Due to above mentioned robot software’s different types of robots can be controlled e.g., Delta Robots, Linear Robots and Multi-Axis Joint Robots.
So it’s obvious that a single robot Controller or more than one Controller are used for Data Processing & Analysis in real-time besides a PLC &/or a Drive (a type of hardware). So robot Data analysis is carried out with/without help of a teach pendant by professionals/Trained Personal as how many times the robot started, stopped, malfunctioned, needed spare-parts replacement, needed software updating or needed Periodic Testing via a “Teach pendant’.
D. Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy.
(AI) Artificial intelligence & Autonomy in Robotics is the most recent development as it is self ability of robots to accomplish & do a task/work independently without intervention of a human being. Artificial intelligence (AI) on small scale is tested & is successful but on large scale like in Industrial Environments it is not feasible as it is prone to a large number of factors which can sometimes result in a large damage due to Autonomous or Artificial intelligence associated with Smart Robotics.
Leave a comment