Robotics Online - RIA - Robotic Industries Association  Assembly
Robots 101  by Joe Campbell , Chairman, RIA Membership Committee
(2006-2008) Robotic Industries Association  Assembly Robots 101
by Joe Campbell While robots are among the highest technology
products on the manufacturing floor, they are essentially just
another tool. Twenty years ago, cam-actuated devices were
commonly accepted, then pneumatic devices, and today it's
robots.  To the uninitiated, robots appear complex: They use
complicated programming languages, controllers, and advanced
sensors like machine vision. Plus they can carry a big price tag
and require a lot of engineering to design and install the
cells.  But today most of that perception is incorrect. Complex
programming languages may still be used by advanced integrators
and OEM's, but most of the systems can also be set up using
point and click graphical user interfaces. The controllers are
radically simplified and have shrunk from the size of a
commercial washing machine to the si