Tracking the Rise of Robots: The IFR Database

We present and analyze the dataset on the international distribution of industrial robots by country, industry, and application provided by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) since 1993. After describing the IFR we point out specificities and limitations of its dataset. We explain the process of data collection, develop a correspondence table between the IFR industry classification and the ISIC rev. 4 industry classification, and clarify the applied compliance rules. We further compute average implicit depreciation rates inherent to the robot stocks in the IFR dataset in the range of 4–7% per year between 1993 and 2019. We also find that the share of industrial robots that are not classified to any industry or application has sharply declined since 2005.

Do Speed and Proximity Affect Human-Robot Collaboration with an Industrial Robot Arm?

Current guidelines for Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) allow a person to be within the working area of an industrial robot arm whilst maintaining their physical safety. However, research into increasing automation and social robotics have shown that attributes in the robot, such as speed and proximity setting, can influence a person’s workload and trust. Despite this, studies into how an industrial robot arm’s attributes affect a person during HRC are limited and require further development. Therefore, a study was proposed to assess the impact of robot’s speed and proximity setting on a person’s workload and trust during an HRC task. Eighty-three participants from Cranfield University and the ASK Centre, BAE Systems Samlesbury, completed a task in collaboration with a UR5 industrial robot arm running at different speeds and proximity settings, workload and trust were measured after each run. Workload was found to be positively related to speed but not significantly related to proximity setting. Significant interaction was not found for trust with speed or proximity setting. This study showed that even when operating within current safety guidelines, an industrial robot can affect a person’s workload. The lack of significant interaction with trust was attributed to the robot’s relatively small size and high success rate, and therefore may have an influence in larger industrial robots. As workload and trust can have a significant impact on a person’s performance and satisfaction, it is key to understand this relationship early in the development and design of collaborative work cells to ensure safe and high productivity.

Dynamic Simulation Modeling of Industrial Robot Kinematics in Industry 4.0

This paper studies the kinematic dynamic simulation modeling of industrial robots in the Industry 4.0 environment and guides the kinematic dynamic simulation modeling of industrial robots in the Industry 4.0 environment in the context of the research. To address the problem that each parameter error has different degrees of influence on the end position error, a method is proposed to calculate the influence weight of each parameter error on the end position error based on the MD-H error model. The error model is established based on the MD-H method and the principle of differential transformation, and then the function of uniform variation of six joint angles with time t is constructed to ensure that each linkage geometric parameter is involved in the motion causing error accumulation. Through the analysis of the robot marking process, the inverse solution is optimized for multiple solutions, and a unique engineering solution is obtained. Linear interpolation, parabolic interpolation, polynomial interpolation, and spline curve interpolation are performed on the results after multisolution optimization in the joint angle, and the pros and cons of various interpolation results are analyzed. The trajectory planning and simulation of industrial robots in the Industry 4.0 environment are carried out by using a special toolbox. The advantages and disadvantages of the two planning methods are compared, and the joint space trajectory planning method is selected to study the planning of its third and fifth polynomials. The kinetic characteristics of the robot were simulated and tested by experimental methods, and the reliability of the simulation results of the kinetic characteristics was verified. The kinematic solutions of industrial robots and the results of multisolution optimization are simulated. The methods, theories, and strategies studied in this paper are slightly modified to provide theoretical and practical support for another dynamic simulation modeling of industrial robot kinematics with various geometries.

Effect of Process Modes on Tangential Component of Cutting Force during Belt Rotary Grinding of Aluminium Alloy Blanks D 16

These days, in the manufacture of units and mechanisms of ships, aircraft and other technological machines, industrial robots, long-sized products from D 16 (Standart GOST-R) aluminum alloy are used, for the processing of which a complex for belt rotary grinding has been developed. The outcome measures of the rotary belt grinding process depend on the cutting forces generated during the processing process. According to cutting forces, process stability is diagnosed, values of surface roughness indices, temperatures and cutting modes are calculated according to displacement balance equation. The article is devoted to obtaining a mathematical model establishing the relationship between the tangential component of the cutting force and cutting modes during belt rotary grinding of D 16 aluminum alloy.