Introduction to Robotics

The field of robotics in automation has branched out into three related yet distinct application areas. In the modern world of manufacturing, robotics includes traditional industrial robots, collaborative robots, and mobile robots. This final category can be further broken down into automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robotics (AMRs) into which categories we can include drones, UAVs, and UUVs, among other acronyms.

To study robotics, each of these three categories can be investigated independently, since the entire nature of the technologies are different; from the kinematic algorithms to the industry and application areas in which they are used.

The History of Industrial Robotics

The very first application of actual industrial robots was used in the automotive industry. General Motors used Unimate, a robot created by George Devol and Joesph Engelberger in the 1960s, to complete a variety of tasks, including pick and place, painting, and welding.

As no small coincidence, since the 1950s and 60s held major advancements in all forms of computing and manufacturing, the development of the PLC system happened just a few short years later. The control system, consisting of the processor (PLC), the I/O devices, and robotics, have all existed in various combinational work cells since the inception of digital controls.

The Ongoing Need for Robots

Since the beginning, robots have served to replace human workers in tasks that are labeled as the ‘3 Ds’ which include dull, dirty, and dangerous. Certainly, the dangerous jobs that pose health risks are ideal candidates for automation. Spray painting, application of chemicals, working in hot/cold environments, and lifting heavy objects have been traditionally some of the easiest jobs to automate with robots.

As demand for products grows, it is also proved that robots can perform many precision jobs faster and with a higher degree of accuracy than any person. Some robots are used to populate printed circuit boards (PCBs) with nearly microscopic components, putting hundreds of devices onto the board in a short time. Sorting items on a conveyor belt by size, color, and orientation is also a job ripe for a robot.

Unimate, the very first robot, was controlled with 6 individual axes (although they consisted of combinations of hydraulic actuators and motors - most modern robots use only electric motors). This means it was truly a 6-axis industrial robot.

Since that time, there have been hundreds of variations of the industrial articulated arm, and technology offerings have increased to produce vast product lines of collaborative models, as well as delta robots, SCARA robots, automated mobile platforms (AMRs), and cartesian robots.

Worker Shortages and the Robotics Industry

A common concern when discussing robotics is the presence of automation supplanting the need for human workers, causing a de-valuation of the workforce and displacing the people who used to perform these tasks.

At the surface, the prevalence of robotics would seem to show this to be the case. Many of the tasks, assembly lines, welding, placing, bin-picking, inspecting, and so many others are becoming automated, with each robot offsetting the jobs of 2-3 or more people, and with greater accuracy.

But even the simplest look at the job market in the 21st century reveals a very different narrative. The number of job openings in manufacturing, from shop-floor technical jobs up to engineers and managerial positions are vacated at an alarming rate, with no relief in sight. If it were true that automation was replacing workers, those companies would be laying off workers, but instead, they are offering incentives and bonuses to keep those employees who have a willingness to learn and advance.

The common counter-argument to the claim of automation layoffs is that automation will not take away jobs, it will simply relieve people from performing dirty, dangerous, and dull (monotonous) jobs, and allow them to work with more creativity and flexibility as they manufacture the future. This is exactly what the past few years have proved. Companies are desperate to find automation and robot programmers, engineers, and technicians, while they allow the robots to perform those tasks unsuitable for sustainable human interaction.