Harare Institute of Technology

Electronic Engineering Department EEE 421: Robotics Technology (2012 )

Lecturer: Mr. T. Pondani Preface Many definitions have been suggested for what we call a robot. The word may conjure up various levels of technological sophistication, ranging from a simple material handling device to a humanoid. The image of robots varies widely with researchers, engineers, and robot manufacturers. However, it is widely accepted that todays robots used in industries originated in the invention of a programmed material handling device by George C. Devol. In 1954, Devol filed a U.S. patent for a new machine for part transfer, and he claimed the basic concept of teachin/playback to control the device. This scheme is now extensively used in most of today's industrial robots. Course objectives: At the end of this course, students should: Understand the basic concepts of robots, automation Understand the basic operations robot manipulator components, robot actuators drive systems and end effectors Understand the basic principles of robot motion and Analysis Be familiar with the concept of vision in robotics, autonomous/advanced robots Be able to design a robot implementation system Understand and be able to evaluate the basics of matrix representation: link equations and relationships, differential motion and velocities, calculation of the jacobian for a robot Be able to characterize common robot cell designs Course content 1. Fundamental of robotics: Definitions of industrial robots, Robots and automation, Manipulation of robot components, robot technology level 2. Robot control systems: Open and closed loops, Servo system control: open and closed loop servo systems, feedback components: velocity transducers, positional transducers, servo amplifiers, position and movement signals 3. Sensors in robotics: Internal and external sensors, Types of sensors: proximity sensors, range finders, touch sensors, force sensors, Sensor programming: reading sensor data, reading positional offset data. 4. Robot actuators drive systems and end effector: Hydraulic and pneumatic actuators, Hydraulic servo systems (operating principles), pneumatic systems, Electrical actuators, brushless permanent magnet DC motor, AC servo motor, stepper motor, Drive selection, End effectors, basic considerations for end effectors, mechanical grippers, vacuum grippers, magnetic grippers, end of arm tooling.

5. Robot motion and Analysis: Degree of freedom and degree of motion, Basics of matrix representation: link equations and relationships, differential motion and velocities, calculation of the jacobian for a robot, Direct kinematics: coordinate frames, rotations, homogeneous coordinates, link coordinates (kinematics parameters), the arm equation, Inverse kinematics: inverse kinematics problem, general properties of solutions, Tool configuration, Robot static and dynamic characteristics 6. Vision in robotics: Image representation, Template approach to image recognition, Vision algorithms, shape analysis: line descriptors, area descriptors, Principle angle, Segmentation: thresholding, region labeling, Perspective transformations. 7. Robot programming and languages: Robot programming methods: physical set-up programming, teach mode programming, teach by showing (off line programming), Robot programming languages: computer controlled hardware level, point to point languages, simple motion level, structured level programming level, model based or task oriented languages 8. Robot cell design: Robot cell layout: robot centered cell, inline robot cell, mobile robot cell, Transfer systems, Robot and machine interferences, work volume and work envelop, Robot configuration. 9. Robot implementation and safety: Interfacing in implementation: interfacing circuitry, interfacing for remote operation, Safety: safe training, dependable machine design, high reliability controls 10. Autonomous/Advanced robots: Heuristics decision for robots, Fuzz logic for robot control, artificial neutral networks in robotics, Biomimetic in robotics 11. Application of robots: Material handling, Machine loading and unloading, Inspection, Assembly, spray painting, etc Student Evaluation: i) Course work: Assignment Presentation Test ii) Final Exam Exam total 25% 25% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Required Textbook/ Additional References 1) Robotics, by Appu Kuttan K.K, (2007) I.K International Publishing house Pvt.Ltd (UK) 2) Fundamentals of robotics (Analysis and control), by Robert J. Schilling, (2001) Prentice Hall of India private limited (New Delhi)