Based on their application environments, Chinese robotics experts categorize robots into two main types: industrial robots and special-purpose robots. This aligns with international classifications. Industrial robots refer to multi-jointed manipulators or multi-degree-of-freedom robots designed for industrial applications. Special-purpose robots, on the other hand, are advanced robots used outside of manufacturing and serving humanity. These include service robots, underwater robots, entertainment robots, military robots, and agricultural robots. Within the special-purpose robot category, some branches are developing rapidly and showing a trend towards becoming independent systems, such as service robots, underwater robots, military robots, and micro-manipulation robots.
Industrial robots are classified into four types according to the movement of their arms. Cartesian coordinate arms can move along three Cartesian coordinates; cylindrical coordinate arms can perform lifting, rotation, and extension movements; spherical coordinate arms can rotate, pitch, and extend; and articulated arms have multiple rotary joints.
Industrial robots can be classified into point-to-point and continuous trajectory types based on their control functions of the actuator's movement. Point-to-point robots only control the accurate positioning of the actuator from one point to another, and are suitable for machine tool loading and unloading, spot welding, and general handling and loading/unloading operations; continuous trajectory robots can control the actuator to move along a given trajectory, and are suitable for continuous welding and painting operations.
Industrial robots are classified into two categories based on their program input method: programmable input type and teach-in input type. Programmable input type robots transmit pre-written program files from a computer to the robot control cabinet via RS-232 serial port or Ethernet communication methods. Teach-in input type robots have two teaching methods: one is where the operator uses a manual controller (teach pendant) to transmit command signals to the drive system, causing the actuator to perform the required sequence of actions and motion trajectory; the other is where the operator directly leads the actuator to perform the required sequence of actions and motion trajectory. During the teaching process, the program information is automatically stored in the program memory. When the robot works automatically, the control system retrieves the corresponding information from the program memory and transmits command signals to the drive mechanism, causing the actuator to reproduce the taught actions. Industrial robots with teach-in input programs are called teach-and-playback type industrial robots.
