Composition of industrial robots
Generally, an industrial robot consists of three main parts and six subsystems. The three main parts are the mechanical part, the sensing part, and the control part; the six subsystems can be divided into the mechanical structure system, the drive system, the perception system, the robot-environment interaction system, the human-machine interaction system, and the control system.
1. Mechanical structure system
From a mechanical structure perspective, industrial robots are generally divided into serial robots and parallel robots. A serial robot is characterized by the fact that movement on one axis changes the origin of the coordinate system on the other axis, while movement on one axis of a parallel robot does not change the origin of the coordinate system on the other axis.
2. Drive system
A drive system is a device that provides power to a mechanical structure system. Based on the power source, drive systems are classified into four types: hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, and mechanical. Early industrial robots used hydraulic drives. However, due to problems such as leakage, noise, and low-speed instability, as well as the bulky and expensive power units, hydraulically driven industrial robots are currently only used in large, heavy-duty robots, parallel processing robots, and some special applications.
3. Sensing System
Robot perception systems transform various internal state and environmental information of the robot from signals into data and information that can be understood and applied by the robot itself or between robots. Besides sensing mechanical quantities related to its own working state, such as displacement, velocity, and force, visual perception technology is a crucial aspect of industrial robot perception. Visual servo systems use visual information as feedback signals to control and adjust the robot's position and posture.
4. Robot-Environment Interaction System
A robot-environment interaction system is a system that enables robots to communicate and coordinate with devices in their external environment. Robots and external devices are integrated into a single functional unit, such as a manufacturing unit, welding unit, or assembly unit. Alternatively, multiple robots can be integrated into a single functional unit to perform complex tasks.
5. Human-computer interaction system
Human-computer interaction systems are devices that allow humans to communicate with robots and participate in robot control. Examples include standard computer terminals, command consoles, information display panels, and hazard alarms.
6. Control System
The task of the control system is to direct the robot's actuators to perform the prescribed movements and functions based on the robot's work instructions and signals fed back from the sensors. If the robot does not have information feedback characteristics, it is an open-loop control system; if it does have information feedback characteristics, it is a closed-loop control system.
Development Trends of Industrial Robots
1. Human-machine collaboration
As robots evolve from operating at a distance from humans to interacting and collaborating naturally with them, the maturity of drag-and-drop teaching and human-assisted instruction technologies has made programming simpler and easier to use, reducing the professional requirements for operators and making it easier to transfer the technical experience of skilled workers.
2. Autonomy
Currently, robots are evolving from manipulated operation modes such as pre-programmed, teach-and-playback control, direct control, and teleoperation towards autonomous learning and autonomous operation. Intelligent robots can automatically set and optimize trajectory paths, automatically avoid singularities, predict interference and collisions, and avoid obstacles according to working conditions or environmental requirements.
3. Intelligentization, informatization, and networking
More and more 3D vision and force sensors will be used in robots, making them increasingly intelligent. With advancements in sensing and recognition systems, artificial intelligence, and other technologies, robots are evolving from being controlled unidirectionally to storing and applying their own data, gradually becoming information-based. Furthermore, with advancements in multi-robot collaboration, control, and communication technologies, robots are evolving from independent entities to interconnected, collaborative systems.
