Applications in manufacturing industries
(such as robotics in manufacture and production line control)
In
a modern factory the only people you will see are a few engineers who
are responsible for keeping the robots and other machinery running
smoothly.
This is very different to old factories, where everything was done manually by human workers.
What is an Industrial Robot?
When someone mentions the world robot you might picture some human -shaped one, with legs and arms, the sort that appear in the science fiction films. However, this is not how the robotos used in factories look like. Robots used in factories are called INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS, and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
A
common type of it looks like a human arm. The robot has joints and a
manipulator device on the end of the arm, where our hand would be.
 | ||||||
| The robot's joints are powered by very strong electric motors. These motors are controlled by a computer |
How Are They Used In Factories?
- lift heavy items into from place to place
- assemble parts together to create things
- join parts together using glue, or by welding (melting metal)
- paint things
What's the role of Computers in this awesome creation? How do they control them?
Sensors
Sensors (inputs to the computer) detect what is happening on the production line, and send data to the computer so that it can decide what to do.
Examples of sensors would be:
- Switches / buttons - detect if something is touching them
- Pressure sensors - detect if something is pressing down on them
- Light sensors - detect if something is present (blocks the light)
- Temperature sensors - detect if items are hot/cool enough
- Liquid level sensors - detect how much liquid is in a container
- Cameras - detect the shape / colour of objects
Process
The control software
running on the computer is the process. It takes the data from the
sensors, checks if anything needs to be done, then turns on/off various
actuators to make things happen.
Actuators
Examples of actuators would be:
- Motors - used to make almost everything move, from the joints of robot arms, to the motion of conveyor belts.
- Valves - to turn on/off the flow of paint, etc.
- Relays -electrically operated switches)
Why Use Computer-Controlled Robots?
There are a number of reasons that robots are used:
- Robots can work 24 hours a day, every day, with no breaks
- Robots don't need to be paid a wage (so money is saved)
- Robots are extremely accurate compared to humans, so product quality is high
- Robots can perform tasks more quickly than humans, so more products can be made
- Factories with robots don't need to be heated or even have the lights on, and they don't need food (so lower day-to-day costs)
- Robots can work in very dangerous / unhealthy conditions (e.g. with dangerous chemicals)
- Robots don't get bored / hate their job!
- Robots cannot easily adapt to unusual conditions like a human can (e.g. if an item on the line is not in the correct place, a human worker would notice and correct it)
- People are made unemployed because robots are doing their jobs (however some new jobs are created - looking after the robots - and some employees can be retrained)
- People are deskilled (this means that, because the robots are doing the complex, skilled tasks that the people used to do, the people are left doing simple, boring jobs)
- The robots are very expensive, and it can take several years to pay for them (paying with the savings made by not paying any wages)
