Mechanisms and Robotics

DE ZG561
BITS Pilani Lecture -1
Pilani Campus
Module 1. Fundamentals of
Robot Technology
 Introduction
 Automation and Robotics
 Robotics in Science Fiction
 Progressive Advancement
 The Robotics trends and the future prospects
 Robot Anatomy
 Links, Joints and Joint Notation scheme
 Degrees of Freedom (DOF)
 Required DOF in a Manipulator
 Arm Configuration
 Wrist Configuration
 The End-Effector (EE)
 Human arm characteristics
 Precision of Movement
 Robot specification
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 2
 Introduction to Automation
 Mass production assembly lines were introduced in 1905 by
Ford Motor Company.
 Specialized machines were designed to manufacture for high
volume production of mechanical and electrical parts.
 When production cycle ends and new models of parts are
introduced, production machines have to be shut down and
the hardware retooled.
 Since periodic modification of the production hardware is
required, this type of automation is called Hard Automation.
 When programmable mechanical systems are used to
perform manufacturing tasks, new components can be made
just by changing the program in the machine, This type of
automation is called Soft Automation.
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 3
Introduction
 Flexible automation is an extension of programmable
automation.
 A flexible automated system is capable of producing a
variety of parts or products with virtually no time lost for
changeovers from one part style to the next.
 Industrial robots are good examples of flexible
manufacturing systems (Flexible automation).
 Using robots in actual manufacturing platforms is,
therefore, a decision to improve flexibility and to increase
the agility of the manufacturing process.

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 4

 Use of the word Robot
 The word ''robot comes from the
Czech word ''robota'' which means
tireless work. It was first used in 1921
by the novelist Karel Capek in his
novel ''Rossum‘s Universal Robots".

 The fantasy associated with robotics

offered by science fiction movies, and
printed and animated cartoons is so
far from reality that actual industrial
robots seem primitive.

A robot from Karel Capek's novel

Source: INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS PROGRAMMING,
J. Norberto Pires ''Rossum 's Universal Robots
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 5
 Robotics in Science Fiction

Gort from the movie The

Robot in The Terminator
day the earth stood still.
Source: www.jeffbots.com

C-3PO and R2-D2 Robots

from Star wars
Source: www.smithsonianmag.com
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 6
 Industrial Robots

Material handling,
plasma cutting,
spot welding, and
 resistance welding The slim design of the Panasonic VR-5
are all done with ease by the six axis AII robot makes it the perfect solution
Panasonic VR-120HII. This high performance for compact work areas. This robot
robot is controlled by the easy to use model is typically outfitted for MIG
Panasonic robot controller. welding or material handling tasks.
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 7
 Automation and Robotics
 Robotics Institute of America defines a robot as a
“reprogrammable multifunctional manipulator designed to
move material, parts or specialized devices through
variable programmable motions for the performance of a
variety of tasks”.
 A Robot is a software-controllable mechanical device that
uses sensors to guide or more end-effectors through
programmed motions in a workspace in order to
manipulate physical objects.
 Contrary to popular notions about robots in science fiction
literature, today’s industrial robots are not Androids built to
impersonate humans but most are anthropomorphic in the
sense they are patterned after the human arm.
Industrial Applications

Robots Performing Spray Painting

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 9

Industrial Applications

Robots Performing Arc Welding

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 10

Industrial Applications

Spot Welding Robots

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 11
 Medical Applications
Robotic system called Da Vinci, used for heart surgery, programmed to
follow the surgeon’s hand movements accurately without any tremors.

Medical Robot Robot Performing Surgery

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 12
 Search and Rescue Applications

A robot picking a suitcase from a car

Image Source: https://newatlas.com/
Pacbot – A Robot for military application
Source: www.army-technology.com

A robot used for disposing

explosive ordnance
https://www.qinetiq.com

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 13

Search and Rescue Applications

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 14

Industrial Robot - History
 The Unimate was the very first industrial robot.
 Conceived from a design for a mechanical arm patented
in 1954 (granted in 1961) by American inventor George
Devol
 The Unimate was developed as a result of the foresight
and business acumen of Joseph Engelberger - the
Father of Robotics.
 In 1961 Engelberger established Unimation, Inc., a
Condec Corp. company in Danbury, Connecticut, to
develop the business in the newly established robotics
industry he created.

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 15

Industrial Robot - History

Unimation Inc founded by

George C. Devol along with
Engel Berger J in 1956
manufactured Programmable
Universal Machine for
Assembly (PUMA robot).

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Industrial Robot - History
 First industrial produced by Unimate was installed in
General Motors, USA in 1961.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Industrial Robot - History

A compact and computer-

controlled robot for
 high speed,
 close-tolerance assembly,
 light materials handling, and
 inspection applications.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Industrial Robot
The Tomorrow Tool (T3 robot) manufactured by Cincinnati
Milacron Inc. is (shown in figure).

T3 robot is an articulated six axis robot.

CINCINNATI MILACRON T3-776

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

The Robotics trends and
the future prospects
 Public Security / Military

 Healthcare

 Coworkers

 Robots at Home

 Robots in Education

 Entertainment

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

The Robotics trends and
the future prospects
 Complex mechanical hands with fingers attached to a
robot.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Coordinate Systems

• Cartesian

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 22

 Coordinate Systems
• Cylindrical

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 23

 Coordinate Systems
• Spherical

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 24

 Robot Anatomy
Arm
• Study of the physical construction of Wrist
a Robot.
Shoulde
• The Manipulator consists of Rigid r
links and Joints.
Elbow
• A Joint provides relative motion
between two links. Manipulator
Wrist

Elbow

Shoulder
or
Base
Hand End Effector
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 25
 Mechanism Basics
 Mechanisms consist of connected parts with the objective of
transferring motion and force from a power source to an
output.
 One part is designated the frame because it serves as the
frame of reference for the motion of all other parts. The frame
is typically a part that exhibits no motion.
 Links are the individual parts of the mechanism. They are
considered rigid bodies and are connected with other links to
transmit motion and forces

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 26

 Joints
 Links in a mechanism are connected
using joints.
 The joints can be of the following types
 Pin Joint
 Sliding Joint

Source: Machines and Mechanisms, Applied Kinematic Analysis (Fourth Edition) – David H. Myszka

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 27

 Degrees of Freedom

Degrees of freedom is often used to describe the

number of directions that a robot can pivot or
move a joint.

Lecture 5 DE ZG/ES ZG561 Mechanisms and Robotics BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
Degrees of Freedom
 Consider an open kinematic chain as shown below.

J2
L2
L1

J1

 Link-1 is connected to the ground link-0 by a revolute

joint.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Degrees of Freedom

 Hence link-1 can rotate about joint-1 w.r.t. ground link

and contributes one degree of freedom.

 Similarly link-2 can rotate about joint-2 w.r.t. link-1.

 Or link-2 has one degree of freedom w.r.t. link-1.

 Therefore this open loop chain has as many degrees of

freedom (DOF) as the number of joints in the chain, as
each joint is of one DOF.

 Variable defining the motion of a link at a joint is called a

joint-link variable.
Lecture 5 DE ZG/ES ZG561 Mechanisms and Robotics BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
Degrees of Freedom

 Thus in an n-DOF robotic manipulator n joints are used

and n independent joint-link variables are required to
completely specify the position and orientation of the each
link.
 Hence for example B
L2
in case of two DOF
L1 C
manipulator shown in
figure two joint-link
variables are A
required to define the
position and
orientation of the end
point C.
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Links, Joints and Joint Notation
Scheme
Types of Robot Joints
Type Notation Symbol Description
Revolute R Rotary motion about an axis

Prismatic P Linear motion along an axis

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 32

Types of Robot Joints

Pin Joint

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 33

Types of Robot Joints
Prismatic Joint

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 34

Further classification of
revolute Joints

prismatic joint L

revolute joint R

rotary joint V

twist joint T

Lecture 5 DE ZG/ES ZG561 Mechanisms and Robotics BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
 Human Arm Characteristics

Lecture 5 DE ZG/ES ZG561 Mechanisms and Robotics BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
 Required Degrees of Freedom
• For moving objects placed on a line or a circle  1 dof
• For moving objects anywhere on a flat surface  2 dof
• Picking objects anywhere on a 3D space  3 dof
• Reaching in to complex profiles  > 3 dof

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 37

Arm Configurations

S. Configuration Joints
No.
1. Cartesian (3 Linear joints)
2. Cylindrical (2 Linear joints, 1 Rotary Joint)
3. Polar (Spherical) (1 Linear joint, 2 Rotary joints)
4. Articulated (jointed arm) (3 Rotary Joints)

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 38

 Robot Configurations
• Cartesian

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 39

 Robot Configurations
• Cylindrical

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 40

 Robot Configurations
• Spherical

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 41

 Robot Configurations

• SCARA (Selective compliance assembly robotic arm)

• A variation of the cylindrical configuration involving,
1 linear joint and 2 rotary joints

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 42

Wrist Movements

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 43

 Robot Specifications
• Drive System
– Electrical
– Hydraulic
– Pneumatic
• Speed of Motion
• Load-Carrying Capacity (Pay – Load)
• Control Systems
• Precision of Movement
– Spatial Resolution
– Accuracy
– Repeatability
• Compliance
• Work Volume
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 44
 Drive System
1. Hydraulic drive: gives a robot great speed and strength.
These systems can be designed to actuate linear or
rotational joints. The main disadvantage of a hydraulic
system is that it occupies floor space in addition to that
required by the robot.
2. Electric drive: compared with a hydraulic system, an electric
system provides a robot with less speed and strength.
Accordingly, electric drive systems are adopted for smaller
robots. However, robots supported by electric drive systems
are more accurate, exhibit better repeatability, and are
cleaner to use.
3. Pneumatic drive: are generally used for smaller robots.
These robots, with fewer degrees of freedom, carry out
simple pick-and-place material handling operations.
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 45
 Robot Sensors
1. Position sensors: are used to monitor the position of joints. Information
about the position is fed back to the control systems that are used to
determine the accuracy of joint movements.
2. Range sensors: measure distances from the reference point to other
points of importance. Range sensing is accomplished by means of
television cameras or sonar transmitters and receivers.
3. Velocity sensors: are used to estimate the speed with which a
manipulator is moved. The velocity is an important part of dynamic
performance of the manipulator. Variations in acceleration during the
movements between points give rise to the dynamic nature of the
manipulator. Inertial forces due to changes in acceleration, damping
forces due to changes in velocity, and spring forces due to elongation in
the links caused by gravity and the weights carried should be monitored
and controlled to fine-tune the dynamic performance of the manipulator.
4. Proximity sensor: are used to sense and indicate the presence of an
object within a specified distance or space without any physical contact.
1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 46
THANK YOU
The presenter is grateful to the following text books and their authors for
preparation of teaching aids for students.

Machines and Mechanisms, Applied Kinematic Analysis (Fourth Edition) –

David H. Myszka

Industrial Robotics - Mikell P. Groover

Fundamentals of Robotics – Robert Schilling

1 May 2019 DE ZG561, MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS 47