于仁颇黎@机器人

在本月初美国芝加哥国际机器人及视觉展览中，Fanuc美国向公众展出其混合了关节型机器人及并联型机器人特点于一身的新型工业机器人，其官方型号为M-1iA. 众所周知，关节型机器人由于其仿人手的设计，具有非常强大的灵活性，因此在当前的使用，非常的丰富，几乎在各个领域都可以看到它们的身影,比如精密的测试，如手机辐射的测试.而并联型工业机器人的特点，在于他的高速度，非常适合于快速传送带上的取放件的应用。而结合了这两种特点的Ｍ-1iA机器人，相信会有不错的技术提升。但是，目前看来，这一款机器人只是样机，并不在官方的产品列表里面。

　　牛年已经在眼前，祝各位朋友牛年大吉，子去丑来腾锦銹，金牛奋地涌春潮。

PS:前几天给国外的同事发了祝福，收到了一个美好的回复祝福，同时也加了一句，what is ox?wiki了一下，发了给他，也留下来自己记录。

what is ox year?

来源：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox_(zodiac)

The Ox ( 牛 ) is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Ox is denoted by the earthly branch character 丑.

The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work.
This powerful sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and
possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might
guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal
namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and
capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.

Ox people need peace and quiet to work through their ideas, and when
they have set their mind on something it is hard for them to be
convinced otherwise. An Ox person has a very logical mind and is
extremely systematic in whatever they do, even without imagination.
These people speak little but are extremely intelligent. When
necessary, they are articulate and eloquent.

People born under the influence of the Ox are kind, caring souls,
logical, positive, filled with common sense and with their feet firmly
planted on the ground. Security is their main preoccupation in life,
and they are prepared to toil long and hard in order to provide a warm,
comfortable and stable nest for themselves and their families.
Strong-minded, stubborn, individualistic, the majority are highly
intelligent individuals who don’t take kindly to being told what to do.

The Ox works hard, patiently, and methodically, with original
intelligence and reflective thought. These people enjoy helping others.
Behind this tenacious, laboring, and self-sacrificing exterior lies an
active mind.

The Ox is not extravagant, and the thought of living off credit
cards or being in debt makes them nervous. The possibility of taking a
serious risk could cause the Ox sleepless nights.

Ox people are truthful and sincere, and the idea of wheeling and
dealing in a competitive world is distasteful to them. They are rarely
driven by the prospect of financial gain. These people are always
welcome because of their honesty and patience. They have many friends,
who appreciate the fact that the Ox people are wary of new trends,
although every now and then they can be encouraged to try something new.

It is important to remember that the Ox people are sociable and
relaxed when they feel secure, but occasionally a dark cloud looms over
such people and they engage all the trials of the whole world and seek
solutions for them.Also the Ox people are all caring and loving but at
times when you mess with them they will tear out in anger.

于仁颇黎注：本文是前一篇（自动化工程师们最明智的选择）英文原文，供大家参考,如发现一些专业词汇的翻译问题，请指正。

Helping Designers Make the Right Choices for Automation

By: David Mollert

I recentlylistened to a talk radio program about manufacturing. As the conversationwent on, one caller’s statement stuck in my mind: ‘‘While automation has playeda large part in increasing productivity, we have not gotten the help fromrobotics that we had hoped for.’‘ That took me by surprise, since I’veworked as a designer of all-electric, articulated robot systems for over tenyears, and know that robots have played a major role in improving manufacturingefficiency. I just assumed they were talking about some other typeof hard automation besides robots. Then I got to thinking that there arestill designers so comfortable with hard automation that they have not yetconsidered articulated robots.

Robots havematured from their birth in specific industries with specific tasks to becomingversatile mechanisms that are ideal for straightforward pick-and-placeapplications, as well as challenging applications that can utilize the uniquecapabilities inherently built into robotics. After working with automationequipment for 20 years, I feel it’s important to provide insights into mytransition from hard tooling to robotics so that others can understand thesignificant differences between the two. The purpose of this article isto touch on several features that have made today’s robot a vital tool for anyapplication.

TrueFlexibility:

The termflexibility means a variety of things when discussing robots. Let mefirst discuss flexibility in movement. With six-axis robots available,movement is virtually unrestricted. The designer spends less time on howthe parts are moved and more time on the tooling at the end of the robot thatpicks the parts. This flexibility allows the tooling to be designed withan eye toward multiple tasks. For example, picking boxes and pallets or assemblingtwo different parts and then setting them on an exit conveyor. The ideais having the robot do most of the work. In situations when theend-of-arm-tool cannot accommodate all of the different shapes or sizes of theparts, tool changers are added to allow the robot to pneumatically changeend-of-arm tools. This type of flexibility in movement is very usefulduring the building of a robotic cell. Hard tooling does not lend itselfto minor positional changes as well as robots do. These changes made ‘‘onthe floor’‘ often help with the overall productivity of the cell.

Flexibility inmounting. Floor, ceiling or rail-mount robots offer the designer anoption with most applications that does not require additional mountingstructures. This speeds up the engineering needed to develop mounts, aswell as the outside fabrication requirements.

Flexibility inyour long-term investment. Traditionally, the thought of reusing hardtooling would be unheard of, but robots can be re-deployed to accommodatechanges in products or procedures. When reusing robots, only the toolingand programming need modifications. They eliminate the question ofcompatibility when attempting to blend a variety of hard tooling products fromdifferent component manufactures together in one assembly. Because robotsoffer multiple axes and are self-contained, there is no need for a structuralframework to mount the various components of hard tooling. They alsogreatly reduce the time needed for hard wiring of the system. For mostapplications, power is only required for the robot and air if needed for the end-of-arm-tool. Another advantage of re-deploying robots to new applications is that it breedscontinuity throughout the plant. When reusing robots there is no learningcurve or additional spare part requirements, and only one point of contact forits electrical and mechanical components.

When I firststarted designing with robots, I had a tendency to limit their flexibility bythinking of only a single task, similar to hard tooling. I now look atthe overall system and incorporate the robot to do as many tasks aspossible. The key point is that robot flexibility allows the designermore options without having to deal with the compromises of hard tooling.

Programming:

Along withadvances in the drives and the mechanical unit, a robot’s programming languageis straightforward if you are accustomed to reading ladder logic. Eachline represents a separate robot command. The command lines that move therobot have four components. These components tell the robot were to go,how fast, how to get there, and whether to use all of the axes in unison orindividually. The development of these programs start with the hand held‘‘teach pendant’‘ which is used to physically drive the robot to a desiredpoint where the four variables can be selected and the point recorded. Itis a point-by-point process after that. These programs can become ascomplicated as the process demands, but even then the basic structure of thelanguage stays the same. This type of straightforward programming goes along way in removing the stigma of complicated controls and allows for a shortlearning curve for any individual.

In addition,FANUC Robotics offers a simulation program to set up a virtual cell on acomputer. Once the robot, tooling and other peripheral equipment areselected, the user can construct the program off-line. The softwareprovides the ability to create and watch the process and adjust locations andspeeds in order to refine the system’s cycle time. This program can thenbe loaded into a robot on the floor, and after verifying the positional points,it’s ready to run.

Limitations:

Robots havedefinitely made a positive impact on manufacturing, but there are a few keypoints to remember when designing with robots. The first point is thesize of the control cabinet. With a footprint of 24 by 30 inches, itconsumes more floor space than many smaller robots. Because of its size,designers must consider the controller during initial discussions of the systemor cell space requirements.

The second pointhas to do with safety considerations. Because the available travel of asix-axis robot resembles a sphere, when working with a specific application itis advisable to limit the travel to only where the robot needs to go. These limits must be accomplished with physical stops in order to adhere to theRobotic Industries Association’s safety requirements. Software limitscannot replace the physical stops. Once the maximum travel has beenestablished, guarding needs to be erected to prevent access by personnel. Includingphysical stops in the design helps to minimize the amount of floor space therobotic system consumes.

The last item ismore of a caution when designing robot-mounting bases. With the highspeeds of each axis, it is easy to underestimate the rigidity required of thebase, even with smaller robots. An adequately sized base insures that therobot will be on solid ground and not quiver when stopping, and can help withthe accuracy of the process.

TheZeus robotic surgical system will be used to perform a gall bladderremoval on a special training dummy. The following circumstances areunusual: the experiment is being carried out sixty feel under the seain the Aquarius Lab off Key Largo, Florida. And the experiment is beingperformed by NASA; if this experiment is successful, astronauts willeventually be able to recieve emergency care while serving on board theInternational Space Station.

(From Zeus robotic system)

The Zeus systemshown above is controlled by a surgeon sitting at a remote console. Inthe NEEMO 7 experiment, the "patient" is off Key Largo and the surgeonis in Canada, 1300 miles away. NASA officials would like to have a safealternative to bringing an astronaut back down from the space station -at a cost of 500 million dollars. The system actually has a number ofadvantages right here on Earth; fatigue is reduced because the surgeondoes not need to constantly hold instruments and ordinary muscletremors are filtered out.

Telemedicine also played a role in the excellent science fiction novel Starfishby Peter Watts. The primary action in the novel takes place near a deepundersea rift; as with astronauts, it is very time-consuming andexpensive process to retrieve workers from these depths. So, the authorposits the use of a medical mantis:

There's this prayingmantis a meter long, all black with chrome trim, hanging upside downfrom the ceiling of the Medical cubby. ..it hovers over his face,jointed arms clicking and dipping like crazy articulated chopsticks…

The mantis stops in midmotion, its antennae quivering… "Hello, er-Gerry, isn't it?" it says at last. "I'm Dr. Troyka." (Read more.)