Ask the Experts | Answers from Plus One Robotics

Have the robot manufacturers settled on common mounting patterns for end effectors? I am involved with Robohand products and notice an ISO callout for the mounting pattern on tool changers; i.e.:"ISO9409-1-A80. Is there a resource to view this info and these patterns?

Kent,

The ISO9409-1 2004 is the international standard governing the design of robot wrist plates. All major robot OEM's conform to the standard. This ensures that end effectors and grippers can be exchanged between robots.

The standard is only 10-12 pages long and is available at ISO.org. Feel free to contact me directly at 937.287.5060 with any further questions or comments.

Erik Nieves Motoman, Inc

What are the advantages and the future of industrial robotics?

The current state of robotics offers the advantage arm-like 6DOF dexterity but with increased power and memory (repeatability). The future of the industry will see the mechanisms evolve into multi-arm, multi-axis devices and will incorporate different sensors to allow the robot to more fully understand and interact with its environment.

Typically how many inches per minute of MIG robotic welding can be applied in a fillet weld applicatoin on 1/2" plate?

25~30 ipm is not unreasonable. Consider 1/16" metalcore wire to increase the deposition rate. Motoman is the leader in robotic arc welding. Visit www.motoman.com for more info, or feel free to contact me directly at 937.287.5060. Erik Nieves

What is the best approach for addressing flash and sprue trimming of rubber from a part coming from an injection mold? Will complient tooling on a robot do the job? Are there any specialists in the field?

You may want to consider a robot with a PushCorp force device and spindle motor. Also, it is often better to move the part to the process. Use the same handling robot that is extracting the part from the mold machine and take the part to a fixed bit in space. Motoman has many such systems in production. See www.motoman.com or feel free to contact me at 937.287.5060. Erik

I'm looking for a way to use robotics to move a HD camcorder around small objects (artifacts up to 2 feet dia.) to capture hemispherical imagery to make QuickTime VR clips for the Web. What robotics would work best?

Actually, there are users that have already mounted cameras to six-axis robots in the past. A 3~5 kg arm like the HP3 would be suitable.in size and payload. It will give very smooth motion. See www.motoman.com or feel free to contact me directly at 937.287.5060. Erik Nieves

I recently bought my first robot; an ArcMate 100i w/RJ2 controller on ebay. As you can imagine, I am engaged in a very exciting learning curve. I plan to use the robot in a JIT mode by building an extensive library system and cut parts with a plasma torch. I have narrowed it down to SolidWorks and RobotWorks for simulation and OLP. Is that the way to go in this price range?

You may want to look at MasterCam and Robotmaster. We have had success with it for path intensive applications. see www.robotmaster.com , or feel free to reach me at 937.287.5060. Erik Nieves - Motoman

I am specialising in Dynamics, Systems and Controls at University of Florida. I am interested In Robotics. I am a mechanical engineer, but I dont know what role a mechanical engineer plays in Robotics. What topics should I concentrate on in Studies? I am unable to study any electroics. Being a mech engineer, how can I contribute?

There are plenty of opprotunites for ME's, particularly those with strong working knowledge of Denavit-Hartenberg parameters and the mathematics involved. Also, robotics is often an exercise in mechanical optimization for load, moment, inertias, etc.

I work for a company in Tenn. that produces Cast Iron Cookware. I am looking for a robot that can distinguish a certain spot on several different castings and be able to take a torch and lightly burn off a light drop of burned on oil. Contact me for more information on specifications.

John, it sounds like your issue is more a vision problem than a robot issue. I can tell you that the robot will interface with the vision camera and drive to the location specified by the vision algorithm. Motoman robots have interfaces to the best-in-class vision systems available. Feel free to contact me (Erik Nieves - Technology Director) directly at 937.287.5060, or visit www.motoman.com By the way, Lodge makes great stuff!

I am a national recruiter searching for a manufacturing engineer with industry specific knowledge on the manufacturing of robots and robotic assemblies for a client in Chicago. However I am new to the robotics community and am looking for networking partners and any suggestions on industry related websites/publications etc... Does anyone have a lead on where I can gain more information?

The local SME and SAE chapters are good sources.

What industry currently uses industrial robots the most?

Automotive manufacturers and their suppliers.