8.B]Explain the Industrial application of robots specific to material handling and Assembly
Answer:-
I.Material / Part Handling applications:
Most of the applications of the Robot falls under this category. Here the Robots are used toa.Transfer materials from one location to another location.
Typical applications are as given :-
i.Pick-and-place application: The most common and simplest application here is the pick-and-place application where objects are picked from one location and placed.to another location.
ii. Palletizing application: Another application that is slightly complex is the “Palletizing application” where the robot stacks products or carton boxes onto a pallet at various. positions on the pallet to the required height.
iii. Stacking application: Here, therobots are used to stack parts one upon another. After each placement, the vertical position is re-calculated and the new stacking height is determined.
iv. Insertion operation: Here, the robots are used to insert parts into the compartments or spaces provided in a carton.
II.Assembly and Inspection:
a.Assembly:
The combination of two or more parts to form a new object is called as an assembly. The parts that join to form a new entity is securely held together either by fastening or joining processes. Assembly automation using robots will ensure higher productivity, consistency in quality and cost savings when compared to manual assembly. Robots have saved the assembly workers from the tedious, dull and repetitive jobs which were quite labour-intensive.
b.Inspection:
Inspection is a means to separate poor quality products from the good ones to ensure the required quality.
i. The robot arm manipulates an inspection probe that moves relative to the product to be inspected. The end-effector here is the inspection probe.Here care must be taken to present the part at the inspection workstation at the right position and the right orientation so that the part is inspected accurately.
ii.Robots can inspect whether the part is present on an assembly or not. Inspection systems for instance look at an engine to find out if it is completely assembled or not.
Example: Car manufacturers can use robot to confirm whether an oil filter is put in an engine or not.
iii.The robot pick’s part at the cell entry point, loads to the inspection machine and after inspection unloads the part and then places to the cell exit point. Few cases may also involve robot taking additional responsibility of segregating parts based on inspection result.
iv.Robots are used to detect flaws by comparing the good part with the bad part. Thisrequires the end users to define what a good part is and what a bad part is.