Comprehensive Situation Mapping for Robot Evaluation and Selection

Selecting the best robot for various applications is further complicated by the impracticality of physically modelling available robots in order to make an educated choice. Various methods have been proposed in the literature for tackling the robot selection problem. Some of these methods have been evaluated for assembly applications, the most common being what we call the “evaluative hierarchy”. Introduces a robot selection tool based on comprehensive situation mapping (CSM), an advanced derivative of influence diagramming (ID). Proposes that CSM provides the most consistent results, is easy to use, and gives the decision maker better insights into how various process variables can be chosen to ensure that the best available robot for the money is acquired.