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What is Robotics?
An Industrial Robot is a re-programmable device designed to both manipulate and transport parts, tools, or specialised manufacturing implements through variable programmed motions for the performance of specific manufacturing tasks. It is interesting to note that most of the companies that use Robots well within their manufacturing areas also develop and build their own robots. This is probably due to them having personnel available with a deep understanding of how these complex machines operate as well as having a vested interest in the Technology being successful.
Why Use Robots?
There are four major reasons why use Automation and in particular industrial robots. These are:-
Quality improvements : For certain tasks robots can be superior to humans in terms of the quality of the work that is produced. This has been found to be the case where one or more of the following are required :-
- High positioning precision.
- High repeatability.
- No deviation due to fatigue.
- Highly accurate inspection and measurement using sensors.
Improvement of the Working Environment :
In order to get the best long term performance from the work force it is important to make the working environment as conducive as possible to high quality, high output work. The human body if used incorrectly is susceptible to short term fatigue or long term injury or disability. Where possible automation should be used to reduce fatigue and to minimise the risk of injury. With the current trend of increased health and safety legislation it is predicted that companies that do not see the sense in introducing automation in these areas voluntarily will in the long term be forced to by legislation. The four areas where automation should be considered are as follows:-
- Heavy lifting.
- Repetitive work.
- Contaminated environments.(solvents, noise, heat, dust)
- Jobs requiring continuously high levels of concentration.
Cost Effectiveness
Cost effectiveness of robots is not always an easy calculation to perform. Most of the cost is up front in terms of the robot and tooling costs. Often due to the lack of intelligence in robots the tooling costs are the most significant. In comparison to this performing the operations using humans the largest cost is in wages and for hazardous environments such as a paint shop, environmental control (i.e. providing a clean air source for the operator to breathe) can also be expensive. Where possible robots should be installed such that they can operate continuously for 24 hours per day in order to get the best productivity from them. This is however not possible where they are operating on lines utilising humans who require breaks. Often it is the humans in the process who limit the output of robot cells.
Flexibility to Change
In the correct circumstances robots can not only be more flexible to change than fixed automation but can also be faster than what is often regarded as the most flexible solution humans. With the globalisation of markets the life time of a product on the market is steadily decreasing. This requires that new products can be brought to market quicker and also that production lines are flexible and can handle more than one product. The solution to this is to use re-programmable automation and wherever possible to remove hard tooling.
