A systematic analysis of 60 product lines, all of which are assembled in relatively small batches, resulted in the selection of outdoor lighting, compressors and small motors as those most suitable for programmable automatic assembly. Preliminary concepts as to how manipulator arms and control...

The paper illustrates a system for man‐machine interaction in quasi‐natural language. The scope of the interaction is in the description of the sequence of tasks to be executed by an industrial robot for the assembly of mechanical systems.

Today's industrial robots are a powerful technical means for improving the quality of man's industrial efforts. It is generally agreed that in the next few years the use of these machine will become widespread to a very impressive degree with accompanying changes in working conditions and...

Japanese production of industrial robots amounted to US$34 million in 1973 (hereafter, calculate 1 US$ = Yens 270,‐). For the last couple of years, the demand stayed weak because of the slow down of industrial investment. However, the advancement of robot technology, the improvement...

Today there are few problems as central to the industrial milieux as industrial relations and there seems little reason to suspect that these problems will decrease as time goes on. It would be wrong to assume that industrial relations considered in this context simply refer to the relationships...

Automatic arc‐welding machines have been used in manufacturing plant for a number of years now. They are special machines for a special purpose. But one of the main problems for automatic arc‐welding machines is presented by assembly element inaccuracies. These inaccuracies arise even when...

Application of basic processing equipment, providing for high‐levelled combination and concentration of operations, together with automatic program‐controlled manipulators of various types offers possibilities for creating automated production systems which differ in purpose, structure,...

In the last few years, the number of manufacturers and users of industrial robots has greatly increased. When the often extensive technical descriptions of industrial robots are examined it is noticed that very different terminologies are used for the same technical data. More detailed...

This paper describes many sensors which are applicable to the requirements of the computer controlled assembly and manufacturing process. Various new types of sensors are presented including a multi‐degree of freedom force sensor using interchangeable modules, a pneumatic retractable whisker,...

Automation at various levels is becoming accepted by many industries as either an improvemnt of existing procedures or a complete alternative.