【正文】
ers. Foreign manufacturers who had under taken automation on a wide scale basis, such as those in Japan, began to gain an increasingly large share of the . and world market for manufactured goods, particularly automobiles.Through a variety of automation techniques, includicg robots, Japanese manufacturers, beginning in the 1970s, were able to produce better automobiles more cheaply than nonautomated . manufacturers. Consequently, in order to survive, . manufacturers were forced to consider any technological developmentsthat could help improve productivity.It became imperative to produce better produets at lower costs in order tobe petitive with foreign manufacturers. Other factors such as the need to findbetter ways of performing dangerous marmfacturing tasks contributed to thedevelopment of industrial robots. However, the principal rationale has always been,and is still, improved productivity.One of the principal advantages of robots is that they can be used in settingsthat are dangerous to humans. Welding and parting are examples of applicationswhere rotmts can be dangerous to humans. Even though robots are closely asmciatedwith safety in the workplace, they can, in themselves, be dangerous.Robots and robot cells must be carefully designed and configured so that they do not endanger human workers and other machines. Robot work envelops should be accurately calculated and a danger zone surroundting the envelop clearly marked off. Red flooring strips and barriers can be userd to keep human workers out of a robot’s work envelope.Eren with such precautions it is still a good idea to have an automatic shutdown system in situations where robots are used. Such a system should should have the capacity to sense the need for an automatic shutdown of operations. Faulttolerant puters and redunant systems can be installed to ensure proper shutdown of robotics systems to ensure a safe environment.Industrial robots is the science of designing, building, and applying industrial robcts. What are robots? In the late 1970s the Robotic Industries Association defined a robot as” a manipulator, designed to move material, parts,tools or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks. Although this definition does not directlyinclude pick and place arms as robots, teleoperamrs and remotely controlled devicesare often referred to also as robots. The International Standards Organization(ISO) has a more lengthy definition of an industrial robot:A machine formed by a mechanism including several degrees of freedom, often having tile appearanoa of one or several arms ending in a wrist capable of holding a tool or a workpiece or an inspection device. In particular, its control unit must use a memorizing device and .sometimes it can use sensing or adaptation appliances taking into account environment and circumstances. These multipurtpose machines are generally designed to carry out a repetitive function and can be adapted to other functions.The RIA and ISO definitions both stress the muLtifunctional and programmable capabilities and, therefore, exclude specialpurpose hard automation tools and equipment typically found in high volume production. Also excluded are manual remote manipulators, which are extensions of human hands for use in, for example, sterile, hot, or radioactive environments.In Japan, the Japanese Industrial Robot Association (JIRA) classifies industrial robots by the method of input informatkm and the method of teaching:1. Manual Manipulators. Manipulators directly activated by the operator.2. Fixedsequence Robot. Robot that once programmed for a given sequence of operations is not easily changed.3. Variablesequence Robot. Robot that can be programmed for a given sequence of operations and can easily be changed or reprogrammed.4. Playback Robot. Robot that memorizes work sequences taught by a human being who physically leads the device through the intended work pattern。 and what information or signal does the ponent produce? It is important to note that the same physical ponent may perform many different information operations (e. g. , a central puterperforms many different calculations on