Nowadays, there are plenty of robots implemented in various fields for its accuracy, consistency, repeatability, and so on. Most of the robots are used in the industries for performing several operations like pick & place, arc welding, spray painting, etc. The robots also play a vital role in medical, space, military, and building jobs. In future, the humanoid robots are expected, and they may be used for household works, security reasons, and more.
Now let us see some of the applications of industrial robots as they incorporate a majority of robots. It can be divided into four key categories such as:
- Machine Loading and Unloading
- Material Handling,
- Processing, and
- Assembly & Inspection.
Loading and Unloading:
In machine loading, the robot loads the raw materials into a machine and the unloading is done through other ways. In machine unloading, the loading of raw materials are done without robots and the completed parts are unloaded by means of robots. During both these cases, the machine loading and unloading is carried out with robots.Example: Maker 110 Robot.
Material Handling:
In this application, a robot is capable of transferring the materials from one place to another. A gripper is used to hold the raw materials or completed parts to perform this process.Example: Unimate 2000 Robot.
Processing:
A robot that performs some of the manufacturing processes like arc welding, spray painting, etc. are done in the processing application. The main process of this application is the spot welding. It also includes laser cutting, drilling, and grinding operations.Assembly and Inspection:
The robot assembly will include material handling process for constructing a product. This operation reduces labor costs and highly repeatable. The inspection of robots will involve some of the sensors to calculate the worth of a manufactured part. It uses mechanical probe experiments to inspect the finished parts.Example: SCARA Robot (for assembly operations).
