Robotics
Another trend in manufacturing technology is computerized robotics.
A
robot
is any artificial device that is able to perform functions ordinarily thought to
be appropriate for human beings. Robotics refers to the science and technology of the
construction, maintenance, and use of robots. The use of industrial robots has steadily
increased since 1980 and is expected to continue to increase slowly as more companies
recognize the benefits that accrue to users of industrial robots.
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Welding was one of the first applications for robots, and it continues to be the area
for most applications. A close second is materials handling. Other applications include
machine loading and unloading, painting and finishing, assembly, casting, and machin-
ing applications such as cutting, grinding, polishing, drilling, sanding, buffing, and
deburring. Daimler AG, for instance, replaced about 200 welders with 50 robots on an
assembly line and increased productivity about 20 percent. The use of robots in inspec-
tion work is increasing. They can check for cracks and holes, and they can be equipped
with vision systems to perform visual inspections.
Robots are also beginning to move from the factory floor to all manner of other appli-
cations. The Dallas police used a robot to apprehend a suspect who had barricaded himself
in an apartment building. The robot smashed a window and reached with its mechanical
arm into the building. The suspect panicked and ran outside. At the Long Beach Memorial
Hospital in California, brain surgeons are assisted by a robot arm that drills into the
patient’s skull with excellent precision. Some newer applications involve remote work. For
example, the use of robot submersibles controlled from the surface can help divers in
remote locations. Surveillance robots fitted with microwave sensors can do things that a
human guard cannot, such as “seeing” through nonmetallic walls and in the dark. In
other applications, automated farming (called agrimation) uses robot harvesters to pick
fruit from a variety of trees.
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Robots are also used by small manufacturers. One robot slices carpeting to fit the
inside of custom vans in an upholstery shop. Another stretches balloons flat so that
they can be spray-painted with slogans at a novelties company. At a jewelry company,
a robot holds class rings while they are engraved by a laser. These robots are lighter, fas-
ter, stronger, and more intelligent than those used in heavy manufacturing and are the
types that more and more organizations will be using in the future.
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