Examines the use of robots in Israeli industry. Two thriving sectors are responsible for the majority of automation installation—carbide inserts and the electronics industry, with robots also being employed in a number of kibbutzes industries including lens manufacturing and furniture...

Report from a one day colloquium, organised by the Robotics Professional Group of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in association with the British Robot Association and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on the 20th October. The theme was the fast reconfiguration of robotic and...

Discusses the installation of a robotized book handling system in a public library in Sweden. A standard industrial robot and controller have been chosen with special grippers which can handle any size/type of book without damaging them. Describes how the library users place books on a conveyor,...

Discusses the background of robot vision systems and examines why vision‐guided motion for robots hasn’t lived up to the early promise. Outlines the different types of robot vision available and considers the limitation of “computer vision” in most commercial applications. Looks at the...

Looks at the new generation of MetaTorch sensor systems which cost a fraction of the original sensors produced ten years ago as well as being smaller in size, lighter and having greater flexibility. Describes the basic principles of optical seam sensing using state of the art charge‐coupled...

418 robots have been installed at Vauxhall Motors’ plant in Luton as part of a £136 million refurbishment project to prepare the factory for the launch of the new Vectra. The bulk of the robots are employed in the body‐in‐white area, with 50 per cent performing handling operations and the...

Describes Rover’s new paint shop at Longbridge, which is aimed to meet existing and future regulations on atmospheric emissions expected during the next few years under the Environmental Protection Act. Applications of paint include dipping, automatic electrostatic spray and manual spray but...

Examines two modern industrial vision systems which cover both 2‐D and 3‐D applications. Describes the 2‐D Object Recognition and Inspection System [ORIS] which is based on the analysis of the gradients of grey‐scale images and used for such tasks as robotized depalletizing. Goes on to...

Examines the history of Clares Merchandise Handling Equipment Limited, the UK’s leading manufacturer of supermarket shopping trolleys and its long connection with robotic welding technology. Its first robot was installed in 1976 and it has recently installed the 25th robot at its Somerset...

Outlines the need for the development of a top‐face sensor system to ensure consistent penetration during mechanized arc and laser welding. Lists the characteristics such a system should incorporate and describes current sensor systems which might be adapted. These include ultrasonic...