I. Technical Overview

Industrial robots consist of a manipulator (mechanical body), controller, servo drive system, and detection sensors. They are mechatronic automated production equipment that mimics human operation, is automatically controlled, reprogrammable, and capable of performing various tasks in three-dimensional space. They are particularly suitable for flexible production with diverse product types and varying batch sizes. They play a vital role in stabilizing and improving product quality, increasing production efficiency, improving working conditions, and facilitating rapid product updates.

Robotics is a high-tech field that integrates multiple disciplines such as computer science, cybernetics, mechanics, information and sensing technology, artificial intelligence, and bionics. It is a field of active research and increasingly widespread application. The extent of robot application is an important indicator of a country's level of industrial automation.

Robots are not simply replacements for human labor. Rather, they are anthropomorphic electromechanical devices that combine the strengths of both humans and machines. They possess both the rapid response and analytical judgment of humans to environmental conditions and the ability of machines to work continuously for extended periods with high precision and resistance to harsh environments. In a sense, they are also a product of the evolution of machines. They are important production and service equipment in both industrial and non-industrial sectors, and indispensable automated equipment in the field of advanced manufacturing technology.

II. Current Situation and Domestic and International Development Trends

The following trends have emerged in the development of the robotics field abroad in recent years:
1. The performance of industrial robots is constantly improving (high speed, high precision, high reliability, easy operation and maintenance), while the price per unit is constantly decreasing, with the average price per unit dropping from US$103,000 in 1991 to US$65,000 in 1997.

2. Mechanical structures are developing towards modularity and reconfigurability. For example, servo motors, reducers, and detection systems are integrated into a single joint module; the entire robot can be constructed by recombining joint modules and link modules; and modular assembly robots have already been launched on the market abroad.

3. Industrial robot control systems are developing towards PC-based open controllers, which facilitates standardization and networking; the integration of components is increasing, control cabinets are becoming more compact, and modular structures are being adopted; this greatly improves the reliability, ease of operation, and maintainability of the system.

4. Sensors play an increasingly important role in robots. In addition to traditional position, speed and acceleration sensors, assembly and welding robots also use vision and force sensors, while remote-controlled robots use multi-sensor fusion technology, such as vision, sound, force and touch, for environmental modeling and decision control. Multi-sensor fusion configuration technology has been maturely applied in product systems.

5. The role of virtual reality technology in robotics has evolved from simulation and preview to process control, such as enabling remote robot operators to feel as if they are in a remote working environment to manipulate the robot.

6. The development of contemporary remote-controlled robot systems is characterized not by the pursuit of fully autonomous systems, but by a focus on human-robot interaction and control. This involves remote control combined with partially autonomous systems to form a complete monitoring and remote control operating system, enabling intelligent robots to move from the laboratory to practical application. The Sojourner robot launched by the United States to Mars is the most famous example of the successful application of this system.

7. The Rise of Robotic Machinery. Since the development of the "virtual axis machine tool" in the United States in 1994, this new type of device has become one of the hot topics of international research, with various countries exploring and expanding its practical applications. my country's industrial robot development began in the 1980s with the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" for scientific and technological research. With the support of the state, through the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" and "Eighth Five-Year Plan" for scientific and technological research, China has basically mastered the design and manufacturing technology of robot manipulators, the hardware and software design technology of control systems, kinematics and trajectory planning technology, and has produced some key robot components. It has developed robots for painting, arc welding, spot welding, assembly, and handling. Among them, more than 130 sets of painting robots have been applied on a large scale in nearly 30 automatic painting production lines (stations) in more than 20 enterprises, and arc welding robots have been applied on the welding lines of automobile manufacturing plants. However, overall, my country's industrial robot technology and its engineering applications still lag behind those of foreign countries. For example, reliability is lower than foreign products; robot application engineering started later, application areas are narrower, and production line system technology differs from that of foreign countries. In terms of application scale, my country has only installed about 200 domestically produced industrial robots, accounting for about 0.04% of the global installed number. The main reason for these shortcomings is the lack of a developed robot industry. Currently, robot production in my country is largely driven by user requirements, resulting in "one customer, one redesign," leading to a wide variety of specifications, small batches, low component standardization, long delivery cycles, and relatively high costs, as well as unstable quality and reliability. Therefore, it is urgent to address key technologies in the early stages of industrialization, conduct comprehensive product planning, improve serialization, standardization, and modular design, and actively promote the industrialization process.

With the support of the "863" Program, my country has achieved considerable success in intelligent and special-purpose robots. Among these achievements, underwater robots are particularly noteworthy. The development of a 6000-meter underwater untethered robot is world-leading. Other robots developed include directly remotely controlled robots, dual-arm coordinated control robots, wall-climbing robots, and pipeline robots. Significant work has been done in the development and application of fundamental technologies such as robot vision, force sensing, tactile sensing, and acoustic sensing, laying a solid foundation for future development. However, the development and application of multi-sensor information fusion control technology, remote-controlled robots with combined remote and local autonomous systems, intelligent assembly robots, and robotic machinery are still in their infancy, lagging significantly behind advanced international levels. Building upon existing achievements, focused and systematic research is needed to develop comprehensive and practical technologies and products, aiming to place China among the world's leading nations by the end of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.


III. Goals and Main Research Contents of the "15th Five-Year Plan"

1. Objective
Based on the experience, current status, and recent developments in robot development both domestically and internationally, and considering the specific circumstances of China's economic development, the focus of robot technology development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period should be on the development and application of intelligent robots, robotic machinery, and related technologies; research and development of robot-based reconfiguration and assembly systems and related technologies; and strengthening research on multi-sensor fusion, decision-making, and integrated control technologies and applications. A key focus should be on resolving the key technologies for the early-stage industrialization of teach-and-playback industrial robots, which have been developed and applied in my country for many years, vigorously promoting their industrialization process, and striving to achieve the industrialization of robots for painting, welding, and assembly by the end of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.

2. Main Research Content
(1) Research on the industrialization technology of teaching and reproduction type industrial robots
① Standardized, universal, modular, and serialized design of articulated, side-spraying, top-spraying, and gantry-type painting robots.
② Development of flexible contour painting robot: development of flexible contour composite mechanism, research on contour servo axis trajectory planning, development of control system, development of whole machine safety explosion-proof and protection technology, and research on high-speed spray cup painting process.
③Standardized, universalized, modularized, and serialized design of welding robots (a series of robots that combine arc welding and spot welding as different loads, and can also be used for arc welding, spot welding, handling, assembly, and cutting operations).
④ Development of laser vision weld seam tracking device for arc welding robots: selection of laser emitter, CCD imaging system, visual image processing technology, visual tracking and robot coordinated control.
⑤ Offline teaching programming of welding robots and dynamic simulation of workstation systems.
⑥ Standardization, generalization, modularization, and serialization of assembly robot products for the electronics industry.
⑦ Research and development of specialized manufacturing, assembly, and testing equipment and tools required for mass production of robots.

(2) Research and development of intelligent robots
① Research on the composition and control strategies of remote-controlled and locally autonomous systems includes modeling—remote-controlled robot models, human behavior models, human control dynamic modeling, graphical simulation modeling, virtual tool and virtual sensor modeling; human-centered human-machine shared planning and control; locally autonomous control; multi-sensor fusion technology; bidirectional force response control; knowledge base establishment, learning and reasoning methods; advanced human-machine interaction control technology; the relationship between virtual reality (VR) control and real-world control; and the structure of monitoring systems.

② Research on navigation and positioning technologies for intelligent mobile robots includes the system structure of navigation and positioning systems; research on navigation and positioning methods in structured or unstructured environments; the composition of sensors and information processing systems in perception systems; methods for building environmental models based on sensor data; and research on the application of fuzzy logic reasoning methods to mobile robot navigation.

③ Virtual Reality System for Remote-Controlled Robots
This includes human-computer interaction graphics generation and programming; geometric dynamic graphics modeling of remote-controlled robots (carriers and manipulators); graphics modeling of remote-controlled operating environments; operation and data acquisition of remote-controlled robots; virtual sensors and bidirectional force response and feedback control based on virtual sensors; task-oriented virtual tools; theories and methods of remote control operation based on virtual reality; switchability, compatibility and interchangeability of VR model operation and real-world operation; and VR monitoring systems.

④ Human-computer interaction environment modeling system
This includes human-computer interaction technology in CAD modeling; interaction technology in the reverse process of learning model workpieces; interaction technology in the layout and functional verification of robots and their environment; interaction technology in sensor data processing; and interaction technology in robot calibration, kinematic modeling, and dynamic modeling.

⑤ Multi-robot remote control technology based on computer screen
This includes 3D stereoscopic visual modeling; computer display of models; control of remote-controlled robot models; human-machine interface; and network communication.

(3) Research and development of robotic machinery
① Development and research of parallel mechanism machine tools (VMT) and robotic machining centers (RMC)
This includes intelligent structural implementation technology for VMT and RMC; key transmission implementation technology for VMT and RMC; processing, assembly, placement, gluing, and inspection technology for VMT and RMC; development of monitoring and inspection technology for VMT and RMC; development of intelligent open CMC control system for VMT and RMC; system software and application software development; mechatronics technology for intelligent mechanisms and materials; intelligent sensing technology for operational state variables; multifunctional and agile mechatronics terminals; general-purpose intelligent open CNC control hardware and software system; kinematics and dynamics theory of parallel mechanisms; intelligent control theory of RMC; and development of typical application engineering projects for VMT and RMC.

②Large-scale bulk material conveying equipment with robotic, unattended operation and adaptive multi-machine remote control capabilities.
This includes sensor fusion and configuration technology for monitoring and remote operation of bulk material conveying systems; fieldbus technology using intelligent sensors; application of robot motion planning in equal-volume stacking and reclaiming and autonomous operation; remote real-time communication based on wide area networks; and fault diagnosis systems with monitoring and management functions.

(4) Robot-based reassembly system
① Open modular assembly robots include the extraction of general elements; standardization of special parts; CAD design of assembly robot modules; controllers constructed from general mainstream computers; human-machine interface methods; and network functions.

② Design technology for robot assembly
This includes digital assembly and CAD integration technology; product robotic assembly planning and generation technology; and fuzzy evaluation of product assemblability.

③ Robotic Flexible Assembly System Design Technology
The unit technologies include: intelligent design of the material feeding system, rapid execution of the end effector, logistics transmission and its control and communication; the integration technologies include: flexible assembly line simulation software and management system.

④ Design technology for reconfigurable robot flexible assembly system: Conduct theoretical research on dynamically reconfigurable robot flexible assembly system based on task and environment; system based on agent-based distributed control technology and collaborative planning among system units.

⑤ Assembly force and vision technologies include high-precision, highly integrated six-dimensional wrist force sensing technology; visual recognition and positioning technology.

⑥ Intelligent assembly strategy and its control
This includes real-time detection and monitoring of assembly status; and intelligent planning and control technology for assembly sequence and path.

(5) Multi-sensor information fusion and configuration technology
① The application of robot sensor configuration and fusion technology in cement production process control and wastewater treatment automatic control systems includes multi-sensor fusion and configuration technology oriented towards process; fieldbus technology using intelligent sensors; and the development of new sensors oriented towards process requirements.

② Mechatronics intelligent sensors
This includes research on mechatronic sensors with sensing, autonomous motion, and self-cleaning (self-adjustment, self-adaptation); design of motion mechanisms for process requirements to achieve autonomous motion for detection and cleaning; regulation and control systems; and the application of robot mechanisms and control technologies in sensor design.