Robot material-handling

South, D. W. 1994. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Industrial Automation and Computer Control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall PTR. It is a comprehensive reference source for production automation. Some topics covered are flow line production, numerical control, industrial robotics, material handling, group technology, RMS, automated inspection, process control, and CIM. Most definitions of terms include applications. 

Foster-Miller has developed robotics technologies with applications to environmental remediation. These robots include FERRET, a materials handling robot Mini-Mucker, a remotely operated dump truck Lemming, a robot designed for the retrieval of unexploded ordnance and TALON, used for explosives detection and ordnance removal. Foster-MiUer can also custom-design robots for specialized tasks. Foster-MiUer s robotics technologies are commercially available. 

Robots have two main advantages that allow them to eventually be a preferred solution for many applications. The first is cost, and the second is flexibility. Because they are produced in moderate production volumes, their cost is significantly less than a custom-built machine. Additionally, they typically have much improved flexibihty. This flexibility allows for significant productivity improvements. As an example, consider a part with welds on multiple sides. A robotic solution can allow for welding on multiple sides of the part in a single setup. This reduces non-value-added materials handling applications and can yield 100% or more improvements in productivity. This, of course, reduces net welding cost. 

TABLE 2 A Sample Survey of Models of Material Handling and Robotics with the Tool Perspective... 

Standard articulated robots consist of six axes. They are available on the market in a large variety of types and variants. Characterized by a cyhndrical working area occupying a relatively small volume, articulated robots easily allow failures to be repaired directly. Articulated robots are used primarily for spot welding, material handling, and painting as well as machining. 

Equipment Material handling Automation/robotics Preventative maintenance Safety procedures... 

The assembly systems introduced by Henry Ford were effective for high-volume production of a single product type with dedicated machines and material handling systems. To respond to the changing market and increasing variety desired by the consumers, more flexible assembly systems have been introduced. Such flexible systems use all purpose machines or robots to handle a variety of tasks in a station associated with the multiple product t3 pes. In addition, the assembly systems have also taken on more complex, non-serial configurations (Hu et al. 2011). 

Material-Handling Systems Several different types of computer-controlled material-handUng systems are employed to move parts between workstations automatically. Suitable handling systems for FMS include conveyors, automated guided vehicles (AGV), tow-carts, stacker cranes, and industrial robots. Shuttles are mechanisms for transferring work pieces... 

Manufacturing is a generally a complex activity involving people who have a broad range of disciplines and skills, together with a wide variety of machinery, equipment, and tools with various levels of automation, including computers, robots, and material-handling equipment. 

FIGURE 17-12 An articulated material-handling robot holds a part while another robot welds it. These two robots have to be programmed to work together. 

FMS typically relies on three systems working together. First, as mentioned above, CNC machine tools can be programmed to perform more than one process. Second, an automated material handling system delivers the appropriate raw materials just when needed and removes finished stock. Third, a central computer system coordinates the CNC machine tools, robots, and material-handling processes (Figure 18-18). 

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