Characteristics of robots

Laboratory robotics is not an outgrowth of classical industrial robotics (manufacturing robotics). Developed independently, it focuses on the chemical process rather than on robotic hardware development. However, much of the technology that was previously developed and tested for industrial automation has found uses in laboratory robotics. Also, some classical terms are routinely used in connection with laboratory robotics and laboratory automation. By 1994, robotics had seemingly reached maturity, so a specific nomenclature for laboratory robotics and automation was issued by lUPAC [2,3]. Some of lUPAC s recommended terms are general and require the word robot or robotics for specific use (e.g. in controlled-path robots , corrosion-resistant robots , feedback in robotics , accuracy in robotics ) others are characteristic of robotic technology (e.g. arm , articulate structure , flexible automation , manipulator ). 

Table 2 Comparison of characteristics of robots for surgery and intervention...

Most assembly work reqiures a revolute robot. This class of robots has most flexibility in terms of posing and accessing capabilities. The cost of gaining such flexibility is the nonlinear characteristics of robot trajectory planning and a highly coupled robot structure. Finding a collision-free, optimal assembly path is not easy. Two approaches are proposed ... 

Another unique characteristic of this technology is the potential for online structure information collection. This HTP method utilizes a high-pressure chromatography system in a parallel processing mode, i.e., multiple simultaneous column runs coupled to a robot controlled liquid handling... 

The search for signs of life, present or past, is an important goal of NASA s robotic solar system exploration programs and, ultimately, for its astronomical programs designed to probe the gross characteristics of extrasolar planetary systems. To date, that search has been governed by a model of life that is based on the life that we know on Earth—terran life. Several features of terran life have attracted particular focus ... 

Despite the great formal differences between the various possible configurations of robotic systems possible, these can be said to consist of four basic common elements (Table 9.1), three of which (manipulator, control system and power supply) are indispensable, whereas the fourth (sensor) is characteristic of second-generation robots. 

Nested Control Loops More than one characteristic of a system s output to be controlled at the same time Robot controllers... 

An extreme rigid structure is the first characteristic of Cartesian robots, whose single axes move only in the direction of the Cartesian space coordinates. For this reason, Cartesian robots ace particularly suitable for operating in large-sized working areas. Major applications include workpiece ptil-letizing and commissioning. 

Microarray A microscopic, ordered array of nucleic acids, proteins, small molecules, cells, or other substances that enables parallel analysis of complex biochemical samples. The term microarray originally referred to spotted cDNA arrays, but now others and we use it for any hybridization-based array. The major characteristics of microarrays are that they have a glass or plastic slide as a matrix, and are created with robots that deposit probes on the slides. 

Chou, C.P. Haimaford, B. Static and dynamic characteristics of McKibben pneumatic artificial muscles. Proc. 1994 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics Automation, San.Diego, CA, USA, vol. 1 (1994), pp. 281-286... 

As shown in the chapter on the fundamentals of this technology, the bending characteristics of the IPMC actuator depend on the counter cation in the ionic polymCT. Yamakita et al. developed the application of the IPMC hnear actuator to a biped walking robot (Figure 6.21) and optimized the performanee of the aetuator by selecting the coimter cation in the ionic polymer. 

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