Outlines the development of a prototype climbing robot for remote testing using standard off‐the‐shelf components. The system construction is modularized so that it can be easily reconfigured for a different task. Describes the desired characteristics of a climbing inspection robot and how...

Outlines current research into multiple co‐operative robots and discusses the practicality of a set of experiments developed to study robot applications better and to verify different solution methodologies. Looks at the design criteria for co‐operating robot systems and describes the...

A look at the background of the robotic ideas company, Oxford Intelligent Machines, generally known as OxIM and at some of their current products such as a rehabilitation work cell for disabled people, a toolchanger and Robofish, for robotic handling in fish processing.

Examines the problem of the robot and fixture calibration from the perspective of simulation and off‐line programming. Looks at the two basic methods of measuring robot position—optical systems and cable‐driven systems—and describes examples of both of these methods. The Workspace...

Outlines research work to design a robot calibration system which is portable, accurate and low‐cost. Describes prototype measuring system which is based on a camera in the robot hand, plus a known reference object in the robot workspace. Gives details of the measuring procedure, the camera...

For the off‐line programming of robots to be successful the graphical simulation must model the real work cell to a very high degree of accuracy which calls for equally accurate calibration of the robot. The University of Surrey has been developing a optical, non‐contact 3‐D repeat motion...

Describes the use of welding robots for making bridge panels. The system uses a total of 14 sets of High Speed Rotating Arc welding robots and ewly‐developed arc sensor techniques are used with both joint end and bead end sensors. A teaching‐less direct CADCAM system was developed to control...

Describes an automated laser cutting cell used in the automotive industry. The cell has the benefits of fast throughput because of high cutting speeds, adaptability of height sensing, safety of crash protection and flexibility of part modifications via robot path and program modifications....

Describes a robot calibration package which produces a set of identified robot model parameters. Uses a measurement target mounted on the robot’s end effector and a pair of theodolites under automatic control. Typically permits the global positioning error of a robot to be reduced from 10 mm...

Robotics in the Food Industry ‐ The food industry generally operates at low margins, is conservative and has to respond quickly to consumer and retailer demands. These requirements have become even more predominant over recent years. The food industry is diverse and there are few generic...