KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

EMM 509: ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION

ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED BY GROUP (QUESTION) 2:

KEVIN KIMANI MUTURI J79/5635/2016

OBWANDA SAUL HENRY J79/5293/2013

RONICK OMONDI OCHIENG J79/5660/2016

DUNCAN NDICHU GITAU J79/5652/2016

NATHAN ALIMOI J79/5633/2015

PHOEBE SANTA ALSTONE J79/5666/2016

1
 QUESTION 1
Explain how the robots are classified.
SOLUTION
Robotic classification is based on the following factors:

a) Physical configuration of the robot

b) Robot control
c) Movement
d) Drives
e) Sensory systems
f) Degrees of freedom (DOF)
g) Applications

A. PHYSICAL CONFIGURATION
Here the types include
i. Polar or spherical configuration.
ii. Cylindrical configuration
iii. Cartesian or rectangular configuration
iv. Articulated or jointed arm configuration

B. ROBOTIC CONTROL
Here the types include:
i. Point to point Robots
ii. Continuous control Robots.
iii. Controlled path Robots.
iv. Stop to stop Robots.

C. MOVEMENTS
Here the types include:
i. Fixed point movement Robots.
ii. Mobile movement Robots.

D. DRIVES
Types include:
i. Pneumatic drive Robots
ii. Electrically drive Robots
iii. Hydraulic drive Robots

2
E. APPLICATIONS
Types include:
i. Manufacturing Robots
ii. Testing Robots
iii. Handling Robots

F. DEGREE OF FREEDOM
Types include:
i. Single degree of freedom Robots
ii. Two degree of freedom Robots
iii. Three degree of freedom Robots
iv. Six degree of freedom Robots

G. SENSORY SYSTEM
Types include:
i. Simple and blind Robots
ii. Vision Robots
iii. Intelligent Robots

3
 QUESTION 2
Using a diagram provide a brief description of the basic components of an industrial robot
SOLUTION
Th basic components of an industrial robot include;
a) The manipulator
b) The actuator
c) The controller
d) Sensor
e) Power supply
f) The end effector
The relationship between the components is indicated by the Figure 1 shown below;

TO THE END EFFECTOR

External
communicator

Controller manipulator actuator

External
feedback
Power
supply

End effector

Figure 1 Components of an industrial robot

4
 A. THE CONTROLLER
The Robot Control system acts as the brain of the robot. It coordinates and sequences the motion
of the various axes of the robot and provides communication with external devices and
machines. Programs may be written in AML (A Manufacturing Language), which is a high-level
language developed specifically for industrial robot applications. The operator interacts with the
RCS (Robot Control system) through a standard video terminal. The terminal is used to create
and edit programs, enter robotic commands and execute programs, and generate data points
during the robot training phase.

B. THE MANIPULATOR
The manipulator is an assembly of various axes that is capable of providing motion in various
directions.
The manipulator essentially consists of Base, Shoulder swivel, Elbow extension, and wrist.
The “wrist " located at the end of the robot arm has 1 to 3 DOF (Degree of Freedom), depending
on the model made.
The wrist of the robot has 3 degrees of freedom like pitch, yaw, and roll axes which were shown
in the figure of a manipulator.
The manipulator is powered by pneumatic cylinders or hydraulic cylinders or hydraulic motors
to power the various axes of motion.
Feedback devices are used to measure the position and velocity of various axes of motion and
send this information to the control systems for use in coordinating the robot motions.
The duty of Feedback devices is to send feedback to the Robot controller taken from the work
region.
The Robot controller will check the (actual amount of work to be done) to the (work has done on
the workpiece) and calculate the difference. This difference is again given to the manipulator to
do the remaining work.

C. THE ACTUATOR
The actuator is located at the joints and moves the links through a prescribed position

D. SENSORS
These are used to sense the signal from the environment and give feedback to the controller

5
 E. POWER SUPPLY
The power supply is the source of energy used to regulate the robot's drive mechanisms. The
energy comes from either Electric, Hydraulic, and Pneumatic.
Electric drives have a high degree of accuracy and repeatability. They also offer a wide range of
payload capacity, accompanied by an equally wide range of costs.
Hydraulic drives, are the most popular nowadays and have high payload capacities which are
relatively easy to maintain. They are, however, rather expensive and not as accurate as either the
electric or pneumatic drives
Pneumatic drives, although limited to smaller payloads, are relatively inexpensive but they are
fast and reliable.

F. THE END EFFECTOR

This is a device located at the end of the manipulator wrist related to a task that has to be
accomplished by the robot.
The wrist is connected to a gripper tool or and a special device whereby it performs the wok
assigned to the robot. The gripper or special device can be a tool like a vacuum pump or scalpel
The body arm of the robot is used to position the end effector and the wrist is used to orient the
end effector.

6
 QUESTION 3
Explain in detail about the various robot motions or movements
SOLUTION
There are six basic motions of a robot which are characterized as follows;
a) Three arm and body motions
b) Three wrists motion

ARM AND BODY MOTIONS

They are classified into;
I. Vertical traverse motion
It is the up and down movement or motion of the arm caused by pivoting of the entire arm about
the horizontal axis of the moving arm along the vertical slide.
II. Rotational traverse
The rotation is around a vertical axis, right or left swivel of the robotic arm.
III. Radial traverse
It is the in and out movements of the robotic arm.
It performs the extension and retraction of the arm.

WRIST MOTIONS
They are classified into;
I. Pitch or bend
This is the up and down movement of the wrist.
Typically found in an R-joint configuration
II. Yaw
This is the left and right movement of the wrist.
III. Roll or swivel
This is the rotational movement of the wrist.

7
The Figure 1 below shows the six basic motions of a robot.

Figure 2 The six basic motions of a robot

8
 QUESTION 4

Discuss in length about the degree of freedom citing examples

SOLUTION

The degrees of freedom (DOF) of a system define the span of its freely and independently
moving dimensions i.e it is the number of dimensions through which it can move.

The six basic motions of a robot rely on the DOF that provides the robot the capability to move
the end effector through the required sequences of motion.

The DOF depends on the number of motions required by the robot to place its end effector at a
point with its workplace. Each joint in a robot system gives the robot a degree of freedom.

There are four types of industrial robots in regard to the degrees of freedom. These include;

a) Single DOF
b) 2 DOF
c) 3 DOF
d) 6 DOF

The degrees of freedom for a single joint are expressed as the offset of the two attached links
from their layout in a given reference frame. This can well be described by the different classes
of connections or robotic joints. Examples may include

a) For a revolute joint, it provides one DOF of motion between two bodies that it connects.
The one DOF is a joint angle defining the offset from a joint's zero position along its axis
of rotation:
b) For a Prismatic joint, it will again provide only one DOF between two links. It provides a
linear motion between two links. The one DOF is a translation along the axis relative to
its zero position.
c) For Spherical joints, it can provide three DOFs, which are two degrees of freedom
provided by two revolute joints with joint axes orthogonal to each other plus spinning
about the joint axis
d) Cylindrical joint that can provide an independent translation and rotation about a single
fixed joint axis; thus, it has two DOFs.

9
THE 6 DOF

A single rigid body has at most six degrees of freedom (6 DOF) consisting of three
translations 3T and three rotations 3R i.e three of them are for the position: motion along the x,
motion along the y, and motion along the z, and three are for orientation: rotation around x or
roll, rotation around y or pitch, and rotation around z or yaw:

For example, the motion of a ship at sea has the six degrees of freedom of a rigid body, and is
described as:

1. Moving up and down (elevating/heaving);

2. Moving left and right (strafing/swaying);
3. Moving forward and backward (walking/surging);
4. Swivels left and right (yawing);
5. Tilts forward and backward (pitching);
6. Pivots side to side (rolling).

Figure 3 6 DOF of a ship

10