Reference to the history of technological innovation in the 19th and early 20th centuries shows that its main effect has been to extend man's physical capabilities, very often at the expense of his freedom of thought and action. This has led to a steady increase in the standard of living of the...

The interest in industrial robots is steadily growing, and many articles and papers have been presented in this field. However, many articles concentrate on either mechanical systems on one hand or on very sofisticated control systems on the other.

In 1970 only two manufacturers existed in the United States, namely the American Machine and Foundry (AMF) Versatran and the Unimation, Inc. Unimate. These robots, still in the forefront today, were just emerging and gaining acceptance in 1970, with approximately 200 industrial robots at work in...

COST AND ERGONOMY PROBLEMS IN WAREHOUSES: The achievment of an optimum solution to the automation of a warehouse is a difficult task, involving a great deal of money, money that nobody really is interested in spending, as ‘the warehouse does nothing productive to the product’.

There is increasing economic attractiveness of the minicomputer in control applications. In order to reap the full benefit of modern computer technology the currently used control systems require modification. The minicomputer should not be seen as a plug in replacement for drum or peg board...

Under the guidance of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and supported by the Japan Oil Hydraulics Association, the Electronic Industry Promotion Association, and the Japan Pneumatics Association, “The Industrial Robot Society” was established on March 17, 1971 and Hikoo...

In the United States, first generation robots are doing die casting, forging, upsetting, plastic molding, machine loading, spot welding, assembly, glass tube handling, paint spraying, conveyor loading, handling explosives and radio active materials, and many other jobs which as can be seen,...

The use of industrial robots in the advanced countries of the world is growing. Whilst generally the concept of a robot is taken as a highly versatile human‐like device the term also extends to include much simpler devices of the pick‐and‐place type with a fixed sequence of events and...

Investment in an industrial robot (IRb) is stimulated by applications that demand easy changes to achieve various tasks. If the shape of the object to be handled varies for each different task then the gripper must also be changed. Thus versatility is required and in this chapter a number of...

The present designs of industrial robots or mechanical handling units generally fall into two categories, the simple pick‐and‐place units with two fixed positions per axis, or the more sophisticated type such as Unimate with a very large number of positions per axis and a large memory....