Industrial Robotics: Robot Types, Programming & Automation

Explore the three d's of industrial automation—dull, difficult, and dangerous tasks—and compare hard automation, robotic automation, and program redesign to improve safety, quality, and throughput.

Mechatronics blends mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering for industrial automation and robotics, covering drive systems, hydraulics, CAD, kinematics, machine design, artificial intelligence, and computer vision.

Explore the four primary industrial robot configurations—articulated, scara, gantry, and delta—alongside mobile and collaborative robots, and learn automation terms like programmable logic controller, scada, modbus, vfd, sensor.

Explore manufacturing robotics applications by defining success with ROI, injury reduction, increased throughput, and quality, then select suitable robot types and life expectancy to optimize automated processes.

Identify six-axis articulated robot arms, their components, and selection criteria for production needs. Learn startup, shutdown, and jogging procedures while evaluating payload, reach, and impacts on productivity and cost efficiency.

Learn the structure and function of articulated robot arms, including the arm, control cabinet, and pendant, with emphasis on cable routing, end of arm tooling, and design variations.

Explore major industrial robot brands, from Universal Robots to Fanuc and Kuka, and learn how to select a robot while mastering home position, start-up, shut-down, and jogging.

Explore how proximity, vision, force torque, and tactile sensors empower industrial robots to detect objects, measure and grip precisely, and enhance safety, accuracy, and throughput.

Explore perception algorithms for industrial robotics, including object detection with CNNs, feature-based and template matching, localization with SLAM and Kalman filtering, and robust tracking for real-time navigation and sorting.

Integrate sensor data with robot control systems to enable real-time perception and adaptive behavior, leveraging sensor fusion, data pre-processing, and closed-loop control.

Explore forward and inverse kinematics for articulated robot arms, mapping joint angles to end effector pose and computing required joints to enable trajectory planning and obstacle avoidance in industrial motion.

Develop dynamic models and control strategies for robotic systems, covering kinematic and dynamic modeling, input torques, forward kinematics, and real-time trajectory control.

Explore pneumatic, electric, and vacuum grippers and compare their principles of operation and industrial applications to choose the right gripper for fast, precise, or delicate handling.

Master end effector selection design essentials by evaluating payload capacity, gripping mechanisms, object material, temperature, humidity, and robot arm integration with collision detection and emergency stops.

Tailor grippers to precise task requirements by customizing size, shape, gripping force, and modular components through task analysis for optimized performance and seamless integration.