Track 5. Robot Manipulators: Trends and Development

Robot-based automation has gained increasing deployment in industry. Typical application

examples of industrial robots are material handling, machine tending, arc welding, spot

welding, cutting, painting, and gluing. A robot task normally consists of a sequence of the

robot tool center point (TCP) movements. The time duration during which the sequence of

the TCP movements is completed is referred to as cycle time. Minimizing cycle time implies

increasing the productivity, improving machine utilization, and thus making automation

affordable in applications for which throughput and cost effectiveness is of major concern.

Considering the high number of task runs within a specific time span, for instance one year,the importance of reducing cycle time in a small amount such as a few percent will be more understandable.