Robotics

What this unit covers

The unit is mostly mind maps, with quizzes, flashcard decks, flowcharts and a few notes alongside. Together they follow a robot from its parts to its movement and control.

Where to start

Begin with the Industrial Robotics mind map. It defines an industrial robot as a reprogrammable device that manipulates and transports parts and tools. Then open Industrial Robot Components, which breaks a robot into controller, arm, driver and end effector, and looks at grippers such as mechanical, vacuum and magnetic types. After that, try Sensors (vision, tactile, range and force/torque) and Programming Methods, which compares teach programming with off-line programming, and point-to-point with continuous motion.

Kinematics and control

Once the basics feel familiar, move on to the maths. The SCARA map walks through a robot with two rotational joints and one prismatic joint, then sets up coordinate systems and a Denavit-Hartenberg table. Other maps and flowcharts cover Denavit-Hartenberg, velocity kinematics and statics, and analytical inverse kinematics. For dynamics and control, look at the Adaptive Manipulator Control case study and the time-optimal control map.

More specialised designs

Some maps look at particular machines: a 30 DOF hyper-redundant robot, biped walking robots, upper limb exoskeletons, medical robots and small flying robots. They suit students who want examples beyond the factory arm.

Using quizzes and maps together

1. Read a map and note the terms you cannot explain.
2. Take a quiz, such as the one on end effectors or the one on sensors.
3. Return to the map for anything you missed.
4. Use the flashcard decks to revisit key ideas.

Where it sits

This unit belongs to the Mechatronics and Robotics strand of Mechanical engineering. Pick one map today and see how far it takes you.