Robot Terms

Jacobian

End-effector velocity is related to joint speeds by this matrix of first-order partial derivatives.

Energy Source

Energy is provided by conversion of various types of sources such as chemical, thermal, mechanical etc.

Maintenance

Ensuring that robots and manufacturing systems are working properly and repairing any problems observed.

Collision Sensor

A sensor that detects and informs the controller to stop the robot prior to or during a crash. Other terms for this device include crash protection device, robot safety joint, and robotic clutch among others.

Limiting Device

A separate apparatus that places a restriction on the maximum envelope. This restriction occurs by terminating motion of the robot.

Application Program

A sequence of steps that specifies what jobs the robots will perform. The program can be personalized by the owner to fit specific designs.

Feedback

A signal from the robot equipment about conditions as they actually exist, rather than as the computer has directed them to exist.

Awareness Signal

A sound or light that alerts one of danger or hazard being near.

Industrial Robot System

A system of robots, machinery, and devices that are programmed to perform operations while incorporating an interface.

Automation

A system uses programmable equipment for production. The equipment is capable of being altered and controlled by the program depending on the product.(Common Misspellings: automaition)

Arc Welding

A type of welding that uses direct or alternating current to supply power from an electrode to the metal creating an electrical arc. The place on the metal to be weld is melted. Costs are kept at a minimum making the process used in a broad range.

Joint Motion

A way to regulate the joint's movement so that all reach the specified position at the same time.

Attended Program Verification

A worker in the restricted area checks the robots assigned jobs at the specified speed to ensure proper working conditions.

Drive Power

Actuators convert this source of energy into usable energy for the robot's movement.

Computer

Aided Design - (CAD) Computer software is used to develop and/or alter all aspects of design such as the end product, the system, machinery used etc.

Computer

Aided Manufacturing - (CAM) Computer software is used to design and/or alter the manufacturing process.

Automation Solutions

Machinery and programs used for automatic operation.

Industrial Equipment

Machinery capable of executing industrial operations.

Exponential Assembly

Nanorobots replicate themselves repeatedly.

Linearly Dependent

Numbers or functions related by addition, subtraction or multiplying by a scalar.

End

Of-Arm Tooling - (EOAT) Application tools that are located at the end of the robot arm. The quality of the EOAT greatly affects the performance of the system.

Base

Part of a structure that supports the manipulator arm.

Autonomous

Procedures in a system occurring without worker involvement and pre-programmed operations. (Common Misspellings: autonomus, autonomos)

Kawasaki Robots

Producer of the original Industrial Robot in 1969 in Japan.

Arc Welding Robot

Refers to an automated welding process performed by an industrial robot to create an electric arc between an electrode and a base material to melt the metals at the welding point.

Emergency Stop

This control immediately stops motion and tasks of the system by cutting off the drive power.

Genkotsu

This is a Japanese word for "fist" and the series name of a Fanuc Delta-style robot. They are also nicknamed spider robots because of their unusual motions. These are high speed pick and place robots used in packaging and assembly automation. (Common Misspellings: gencotsue, gencotsu, jenkotsu, jenkotsue)

Dynamic Model

This model shows the forces causing the robot's movement.

Direct search

Trial solutions are used to search for a numerical answer as opposed to carefully solving the derivatives.

LaGrange multipliers

Use allows for an unconstrained problem with performance criteria as opposed to a constrained problem with equality constraints.

Mechanical

Use of machines and apparatuses.

End

effector - The application tools located at the end of the robot's arm and are typically connected to robot flanges. (Common Misspellings: end-effecter, end-affector, end-affecter)

End

effector space - The area of the robot's end-effector movement with respect to its base. (Common Misspellings: end-effecter space, end-affector space, end-affecter space)

Closed

form - Iteration or repeated approximation to find a solution for this problem formulation.

Equality constraint

The end-effector's change of position, movement and location must be equal to a certain number.

Axis acceleration

The maximum acceleration that a particular axis can attain while the robot is loaded with the suggested payload.

Business Process Automation

(BPA) Efficiency of the process is improved by introducing enterprise software throughout the entire process while reducing worker involvement.

Direct Numerical Control

(DNC) Equipment that is controlled numerically receives data inputs from a computer.

Fixed Automation

(Hard Automation) Automated, electronically controlled system for simple, straight or circular. These systems are mainly used for large production runs where little flexibility is required.

Awareness Barrier

A restriction that physically or visually informs a human of a danger or hazard being near.

Backplane

A circuit board containing sockets into which other circuit boards can be plugged in. In the context of PCs, the term backplane refers to the large circuit board that contains sockets for expansion cards. (Common Misspellings: back plane, backplain, back plain)

Integrator

A company that combines and coordinates separate parts or elements into a unified whole using mechanical means. (Common misspellings include: Integrater, Integreater, integreator, integratour)

Ball Screw

A device for transforming rotary motion to linear, or vice versa, incorporating a threaded rod portion and a nut consisting of a cage holding many ball bearings.

Inequality Constraint

A limitation of a feature that may vary such as joint movement, speed, and torque.

Algorithm

A list of steps used to find a solution to a given problem.

Industrial Robot

A manipulator that is designed to perform various programmed tasks during manufacturing. Industrial robots are automated by a program that controls its duties that tend to be dangerous or difficult for humans. (Common Misspellings include: indusrtial robot, industrail robot, industrail robots, industry robot, industryial robot)

Analytical Methods

A mathematical way to solve problems without repetitive attempts to approximate an answer.

Accuracy

A measure of a robot's capability to repeat the same task multiple times without changing the closeness to a certain point.

Assembly Robots

A mechanical device that uses automation to add interchangeable parts to a product in a sequential manner to create a finished product.

Manufacturing Robot

A mechanical device that uses automation to transform raw materials into finished goods for sale.

Iteration

A method of solving a problem by repeating the same procedure to find a more exact solution.

Error function

A number is chosen to stand for a discrepancy in the actual value and the desired value for a dependent variable.

Barrier

A physical structure used to separate people from a restricted area.

Actuator

A piece of equipment that allows a robot to move by conversion of different energy types such as electrical or mechanical processes using liquid or air. (Common Misspellings: actuater, actuattor)

Hazardous Motion

A possible dangerous or harmful motion.

Hazard

A possible dangerous or harmful situation.

Compensator

A remote device that involves multiple shear pads to help peg-in-hole operations. The shear pads are elastomers, also known as polymers and the device uses three to twelve of these shear pads.

Manipulator

Allows for movement of a part through multiple joints on the mechanical device also known as the arm of the robot.

Industrial Automation

Also referred to as automation, uses numerical control during the use of control systems (e.g. computers) to control industrial machinery and processes, replacing human operators. It is a step beyond mechanization, where human operators are provided with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work. The most visible part of modern automation can be said to be industrial robotics. Some advantages are repeatability, tighter quality control, waste reduction, integration with business systems, increased productivity and reduction of labor. (Common Misspellings include: industrail automation, industry automation, industryial automation, automaton)

Internal Sensor

An apparatus within the manipulator arm that sends information on motion to a control unit.

Control Device

An instrument that allows a person to have control over a robot or automated system for times such as startup or an emergency.

Kinematics

Analysis of motion by leaving out information of forces.

Dynamics

Analysis of the causes of motion by the sources of forces and energy.

Human

Computer Interaction - (HCI) Analysis of the relationship of computers and humans.

Inverse Kinematics

Determination of a joint's overall change in position based on restrictions on the end-effector's motion of a robot.

Device

Hardware used to control various parts of a system.

Hyundai Robots

High-tech, fully integrated system robot manipulators combined with RWT's Universal Robot Controller and RobotScript software.

Biomimetic

Imitation of biological systems occurring in nature.

Acceleration

Level - The measure of variation of joint speeds over time. Double and single differentiation of this level gives the overall change in position and change in position overtime, respectively. Refer to position-level and velocity-level.

Attended Continuous Operation

Robots are observed while carrying out assigned applications at a minimum speed.

ABB

The headquarters of the company originally known as Asea Brown Boveri is located in Zürich, Switzerland. The company focuses on automation and power while building industrial robots.

Industrial Robotics

The idea of incorporation of a robot system for production.

Maximum Envelope Space

The largest area that all parts of the robot cover with its various movements.

Coordinated Straight Line Motion

The Tool Center Point follows a specific path allowing the axes of the robot to come to their specified end points at the same time. This allows for a smooth operation of movement.

Flexible Automation

The ability for a robot and system to be reconfigured and change product design easily. Productivity is increased due to minimized setup times.

Degrees of Freedom

The amount of values in a system possible of variation. A robotic joint is equal to one degree of freedom.

Joint space

The area and coordinate system the joints of the robot consume.

Jointed Arm Robot

The arm of the robot has two junctions allowing for rotation and enhanced movement much like a person's shoulder and elbow on their arm.

Cylindrical Robot

The axes of the robot correspond to a cylindrical coordinate system.

Cartesian Robot

The axes of the three Prismatic or linear motion joints of the robot are in the same direction of a Cartesian coordinator.

Cam

The centerline of rotation of this part is not at the geometric center making other parts pushing on it to move in and out.

Control Program

The control information built into the robot or automated system that allows for possible behaviors. The control information is not expected to be altered.

Interlock

The control of a device starting or stopping is dependent upon the action of another device.

Flexibility

The diverse jobs that a robot is capable of executing.

Conservative motion

The end-effector and joints always move in their specific route.

Dexterity

The measure of the robot's skill of completing specific difficult paths.

Fully Constrained Robot

The number of equality constraints on the robot are equal to the number of independent joints.

Kinematic Influence Coefficients

The number of input joints affects movement of the robot and the response of the system due to the affect on complex and coupled nonlinear differential equations.

Chassis

The parts making up a machine not including the body or casing. In the case of an automobile this would include parts such as the frame and engine but not the body surrounding these parts.

Axis

The point that something such as a tool rotates around. The number of axes a robot has varies, but the majority of industrial robots are 4-axis or 6-axis.

Factory Automation

The process of integrating industrial machinery with the help of control software. This integration increases efficiency, productivity and quality while decreasing costs.

Automatic Operation

The robot executes the programmed jobs without worker involvement.

Hybrid

The robot has a combination of pick and place and servo controlled parts.

Interface

The separation between robots and the equipment not nearby. The sensors that are required for communication between the devices use signals relaying input and output data.

Automatic Mode

The state when the robot begins self-moving operations.

Digital Computer

The system of binary numbers is most commonly used as digits for calculations or operations by the computer.

Enabling Device

The user activates the device allowing for the robot and machinery to move. When deactivated motion is stopped preventing harmful situations.

Manual Programming

The user physically sets specific tasks and limits on the robot.

Fanuc

With the headquarters located in Rochester Hills, Michigan, this company provides the most automated systems such as robots to industries in North and South America. (Common Misspellings: funac, famic, faunc, fawnik, fanuf, fanuk robotics)