Promoting industrial robotics education by curriculum, robotic simulation software, and advanced robotic workcell development and implementation

Robotic automation is consuming the laborious tasks performed by workers all over industry. The increasing demand for trained robotic engineers to implement and maintain industrial robots has led to the development of various courses in academia. Michigan Tech is a FANUC Authorized Certified Education Training Center for industrial robot training. This report discusses the research and development of an integrated robotic workcell consisting of three Fanuc robots, Allen Bradley programmable logic controller (PLC), Mini-Mover belt conveyor and Fanuc iR-vision system. The workcell allows students to explore an environment similar to industry and intended to be used for laboratory hands-on activities in two robotic courses: Real-time Robotic Systems and Industrial Robotic Vision System. To complement hands-on activities and to meet the need of educating robotics to those without access to physical robots, an open source robotic simulation software "RobotRun" has been created in collaboration with a faculty member and students from Computer Science department. The features and a few training examples on the software have also been presented.

Programmable logic controllers (PLC) as the backbone of industrial automation adapt to each subsequent wave of technology. This is still true today, almost six decades after the first Modicon 084 programmable controller developed for General Motors. Innovations such as artificial intelligence, cloud and edge computing, IIoT, 5G networks, augmented and virtual reality are penetrating all possible areas of industry, and PLC controllers are no exception. Equipped with a modern functional arsenal, these compact industrial computer systems become the basic building block of intelligent automation, digitalization and Industry 4.0, enabling dynamic regulation and management of industrial processes based on data via real-time feedback. The global market for PLC systems is estimated at US$ 12.2 billion in 2024. It is expected to exceed 15 billion dollars by 2029. PLC controllers, which traditionally serve as the basis of process and discrete industrial automation, are becoming more widespread today adopting the principles of Industry 4.0 in various sectors. The impact on the increase in the need for them is the increased application of industrial robots in the automotive, electrical engineering and other industries. The industrial robotics sector is among the leading contributors to development of PLC systems and is becoming a key driver of the further development of the programmable controller market, and forecasts are that this trend will continue with the development of increasingly widespread robotization in factories around the world. According to the data of the IFR (International Federation of Robotics) from 2024. almost 4.3 million robots are already in operation.

Starting in the 1970s with robots that were physically isolated from contact with their human co-workers, robots now collaborate with human workers towards a common task goal in a shared workspace. This type of robotic device represents a new era of workplace automation. Industrial robotics is rapidly evolving due to advances in sensor technology, artificial intelligence (AI), wireless communications, mechanical engineering, and materials science. While these new robotic devices are used mainly in manufacturing and warehousing, human-robot collaboration is now seen across multiple goods-producing and service-delivery industry sectors. Assessing and controlling the risks of human-robot collaboration is a critical challenge for occupational safety and health research and practice as industrial robotics becomes a pervasive feature of the future of work. Understanding the physical, psychosocial, work organization, and cybersecurity risks associated with the increasing use of robotic technologies is critical to ensuring the safe development and implementation of industrial robotics. This commentary provides a brief review of the uses of robotic technologies across selected industry sectors; the risks of current and future industrial robotic applications for worker and employer alike; strategies for integrating human-robot collaboration into a health and safety management system; and the role of robotic safety standards in the future of work.

This paper describes the design of a force measurement and communication system for the force measuring system in industrial robots. The force measurement and communication system is composed of a multi-axis force sensor and a controller for measuring the forces (x-direction force, y-direction force and z-direction force) and sending the measured forces to the robot's controller (PLC: Programmable Logic Controller). In this paper, the force measurement and communication system was designed and fabricated by using a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). An environment test and a grinding and deburring test using an industrial robot with the force measurement and communication system with three-axis force sensor were carried out to characterize the system. The tests showed that the system could safely measure the forces from the three-axis force sensor and send the measured forces to the industrial robot's controller while the grinding and deburring test was performed. Thus, it is thought that the fabricated force measurement and communication system could be used for controlling the force for an industrial robot's grinding and deburring.

Semantic Modelling of Hybrid Controllers for Robotic Cells

The study reports the results of a comparative analysis of advanced high-accuracy Stewart-lift platform along with a comparative study of dynamic control. A control system powered by a programmable logic controller (PLC) was used. The properties of the system were described using a dynamic model using the Lagrange method. The real object was verified by performing several tests and comparing them using quality indicators. The results of verification tests conclusively demonstrate the system suitability for applications within industrial automation and robotics systems.

A novel TCF calibration method for robotic visual measurement system

In this study, a real-time scheduling algorithm, which supports periodic and sporadic executions with event handling, is proposed for the middleware of industrial automation devices or controllers, such as industrial robots and programmable logic controllers. When sensors and embedded controllers are included in control loops having different control periods, they should transmit their data periodically to the controllers and actuators; otherwise, fatal failure of the system including the devices could occur. The proposed scheduling algorithm manages modules, namely, the thread type (or .so type) and process type (or .exe type), for periodic execution, sporadic execution, and non-real-time execution. The program structures for the thread-type and process-type modules that can make the proposed algorithm manage the modules efficiently are suggested; then, they are applied in periodic and sporadic executions. For sporadic executions, the occurrences of events are first examined to invoke the execution modules corresponding to the events. The proposed scheduling algorithm is implemented using the Xenomai real-time operating system (OS) and Linux, and it is validated through several examples.

The authors of this paper aim to highlight the basic design of a flexible manufacturing cell destined for the final processing of water radiators used for AAVs, cell serviced by a serial modular industrial robot possessing in its kinematic chain structure three degrees of freedom, RRT SIL type. The paper outlines the concept, calculation and design of the (MRB) rotation module at the studied industrial robot’s base and of the (MT) translation module of the prehension device attached to the robotic arm. Depending on the organological elements that are part of the MRB rotation module and based on a rigorous dynamic study performed on robotic modules, modeling conducted with the help of Lagrangian equations of the second kind, a dynamic-organological calculation algorithm was obtained for the selection of the appropriate driving servomotor necessary to putting the rotation movable system into service. The last part of the paper deals with the flexible manufacturing cell, together with the calculations related to profitability, economy and investment return duration, following the implementation of the RRT SIL-type industrial robot.

Industrial robots and cobots are widely deployed in most industrial sectors. However, robotic programming still needs a lot of time and effort in small batch sizes, and it demands specific expertise and special training, especially when various robotic platforms are required. Actual low-code or no-code robotic programming solutions are exorbitant and meager. This work proposes a novel approach for no-code robotic programming for end-users with adequate or no expertise in industrial robotic. The proposed method ensures intuitive and fast robotic programming by utilizing a finite state machine with three layers of natural interactions based on hand gesture, finger gesture, and voice recognition. The implemented system combines intelligent computer vision and voice control capabilities. Using a vision system, the human could transfer spatial information of a 3D point, lines, and trajectories using hand and finger gestures. The voice recognition system will assist the user in parametrizing robot parameters and interacting with the robot’s state machine. Furthermore, the proposed method will be validated and compared with state-of-the-art “Hand-Guiding” cobot devices within real-world experiments. The results obtained are auspicious, and indicate the capability of this novel approach for real-world deployment in an industrial context.

According to recent researches, it is desirable to extend Industrial Robots (IR) applicability to strategic fields such as heavy and/or fine deburring of customized parts with complex geometry. In fact, from a conceptual point of view, anthropomorphic manipulators could effectively provide an excellent alternative to dedicated machine tools (lathes, milling machines, etc.), by being both flexible (due to their lay-out) and cost efficient (20-50% cost reduction as compared to traditional CNC machining). Nonetheless, in order to successfully enable high-quality Robotic Deburring (RD), it is necessary to overcome the intrinsic robot limitations (e.g. reduced structural stiffness, backlash, time-consuming process planning/optimization) by means of suitable design strategies and additional engineering tools. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to present recent advances in design methods and software platforms for RD effective exploitation. Focusing on offline methods for robot programming, two novel approaches are described. On one hand, practical design guidelines (devised via a DOE method) for optimal IR positioning within the robotic workcell are presented. Secondly, a virtual prototyping technique for simulating a class of passively compliant spindles is introduced, which allows for the offline tuning of the RD process parameters (e.g. feed rate and tool compliance). Both approaches are applied in the design of a robotic workcell for high-accuracy deburring of aerospace turbine blades.

Machine vision systems become to play an important role in robot based factory automation, because they enable robots to recognize the environment around the workspace like human visual systems and make the manufacturing process flexible. So a large number of 2-dimensional (2D) vision systems have been successfully applied for industrial robots, but there are increasing needs for 3-dimensional (3D) vision systems providing accurate 3D position of work-pieces. For the 3D vision system, the stereo vision based position measurement systems have been applied in various fields. However the stereo vision systems which have been applied were specific for their particular tasks only. This paper introduces a general-purpose stereo vision system applicable to wide range of tasks with industrial robots.

The vision system described serves as a sensor for an automated welding process. The chosen strategy of processing for obtaining the needed results in real-time will be explained. To improve the reliability of the system, fuzzy logic components have been applied to produce a decision variable that acts as an internal supervisor, judging the quality and reliability of the system's calculated output data. The vision system is used as one component of a series of sensors attached to an industrial robot. It has proven to be a successful way of controlling a production process by supplying both geometric and process information. It is implemented on a homogeneous transputer network. >

Automation of manufacturing workcell relies heavily on sensors and logic control systems to ensure smooth process flow through its devices. Commonly, such logic control systems (e.g. programmable logic controller) are setup for controlling workcells for a specific process flow. These systems require extensive restructuring of its control logic and re-wiring of the communication cables (e.g. feedback from sensors, relays to actuators) whenever there is need for the workcells to change their configuration for different process flow. These requirements result in loss of the production time and incur additional costs. In this paper a different approach, which has the potential of rapid configuration of logical control, is demonstrated on a modular robotic workcell. The approach uses computer network as the communication media and the control logic is developed using the supervisory control theory.

The article describes briefly actual state of the art of unmanned vehicle for mining industry, from inspection robot to automatic train for ore transport. Concept of unconventional walking robot for inspection is presented and comparison with standard wheel and track solutions is shown with theirs advantages and disadvantages as well. Main advantages of author’s solution are limiting the number of motors to two, simplifying control algorithms and increasing durability through displacing sensitive systems like motors, electronic, from legs to the body of the robot. Several results with different optimization parameters for geometric synthesis of used leg mechanism in different environmental condition are shown. The authors heuristic method of geometric synthesis is briefly presented, that can be used not only for walking mechanisms.