Robotics and Automation in Industries

1632 Words4 Pages

When people think of robots, an image of a mechanical, stiff, talking, moving, human-like machine might come to mind. Robots are, in fact, computerized machines that are ultimately utilized to simplify larger scale tasks. They include control machines, computer controllers, or microprocessor based automated systems just to name a few. The ultimate goal of industrial engineering is to expedite processes; therefore, with such developed and modern technology, the manufacturing process is more efficient, cost effective, and there is almost no human error. With all its benefits the automation and robotics movement has made way for new fetes and greater prospects in economic terms for large-scale firms.

The idea behind robots and their uses has been a compilation of thoughts stewing in the minds of engineers and physicists from as early as the 1700. The first representations of these creations was in the textile production industry; i.e. Hargreaves’ spinning jenny around 1770 and Cropmton’s mule spinner that came around 1779. Once these ideas were put into action, the robot development seed was planted and its roots spread into the minds of many potential engineers. This ventured into the development of Numerical Control (NC) and Telecherics technologies in the robotic field. John Parson’s Numerical Control is a system that integrated numbers as a tool to control the machine/robot’s actions, and this led to the creation of a prototype at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1952. Soon after, a Programming language involving sequential paper punching, known as APT (Automatically Programmed Tooling) was developed to accompany the NC on its machine-controlling journey.

Telecherics involved human controlling a machine/robot o...

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...ially because in this day and age, optimizing tasks and making production quick and efficient is prevalent. As production companies and other large manufacturing firms become more complex and automated, industrial robotics and automation will become an integral part of the industrial world by making facilities in the labor force as cost effective and productive as possible.

Works Cited Page

Dorf, Richard C. “Applications and Automation.” International Encyclopedia of Robotics 28.3 (1989): 419. Web.

Groover, Mikell P., Mitchell Weiss, Roger N. Nagel, and Nicholas G. Odrey. Industrial Robotics: Technology, Programming and Applications. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986. Print.

Merchant, Eugene. “Flexible Manufacturing Systems: Robotics and Computerized Automation.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 470 (1983): 123-35. Web

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