AI Term of the Moment
AI application
Redirected from: automation cell
Definition: industrial robot
Industrial robots are computer-based machines that are often stationary. They have one or more movable arms that can lift, weld, drill, paint and perform other manufacturing tasks. Industrial robots retail from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars compared to $20,000 and less for home robots. See robot.
Cartesian vs. Articulating Robots
A Cartesian robot's arm operates on two axes (x-y), whereas an articulating robot uses six axes for much greater flexibility.
Unimate at General Motors in 1961
Installed at GM's assembly line in West Trenton, New Jersey, Unimate (universal automation) was the first industrial robot. Invented by American entrepreneur George Devol, Unimate was used to weld heated die castings, a very unpleasant task for humans.
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Computers Making Computers
MAGPIE for Pipe Inspection
How Small Can They Get?
Cartesian vs. Articulating Robots
A Cartesian robot's arm operates on two axes (x-y), whereas an articulating robot uses six axes for much greater flexibility.
Unimate at General Motors in 1961
Installed at GM's assembly line in West Trenton, New Jersey, Unimate (universal automation) was the first industrial robot. Invented by American entrepreneur George Devol, Unimate was used to weld heated die castings, a very unpleasant task for humans.
Around the turn of the century, these industrial robots were applying sealant at Ford Motor Company's plant in Michigan. Named after the nephews of the cartoon character Donald Duck, Huey (left) sealed the drip rails while Dewey (right) sealed the interior weld seams. Louie is not in this photo. (Image courtesy of Ford Motor Company.)
Robots, whose brains are nothing but chips, are making chips in this TI fabrication plant. (Image courtesy of Texas Instruments, Inc.)
Developed around 2020 by the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) for Osaka Gas in Japan, this Magnetically Attached General Purpose Inspection Engine (MAGPIE) traveled inside gas pipes to look for leaks. (Image courtesy of SRI International.)
Rutgers University scientists believe that nano-sized robots injected into the bloodstream will eventually administer drugs to infected cells. This carbon nanotube body uses a biomolecular motor for propulsion and peptide limbs for orientation. (Image courtesy of the Rutgers Bio-Nano Robotics team.)