Peter Kopacek

Intelligent disassembly of electronic equipment

Abstract Fully or semi-automatized disassembly will gain importance in the nearest future especially for electr(on)ic waste. Concerning the recycling logistic - a new concept for this purpose based on disassembly families as well as a flexible, modular, intelligent disassembly cell is presented in this paper.

Flexible Robots - A Survey

Abstract Industrial robots and handling devices will be of great importance in future. Today robots are used for various purposes in different industries. Main disadvantages of the robots used today are the very heavy construction, the relatively slow speed and the “unintelligence”. Therefore the next generation of robots will be more “intelligent”. Such robots have to be equipped with external sensors giving them additional information about their surroundings. In addition these robots will be faster and therefore they have to be lightweight constructions. The last two features will lead to socalled “flexible” robots which are very complicated to describe mathematically and to control The paper starts with a short description of the main parts of an industrial robot. After some general considerations on the construction of lightweight robots, some methods for the mechanical modelling of flexible robot structures are discussed and compared. Based on these various models for the dynamic behavior an overview of possible control methods and strategies is given

Low-Cost Factory Automation

Abstract “Low cost” and intelligent automation is an efficient tool especially for small and medium sized companies today. While “low cost” devices and concepts for automation of continuous processes are commercially available today concepts for discontinuous processes especially for manufacturing automation are in developing. Therefore in this paper a modular and open “low cost” concept will be presented and shortly discussed. It consists of a network of PCs superimposed by a host computer. This concept is illustrated by application examples

Dynamic Models for International Stability Analysis

Abstract There are three possible options for considering appropriate models tor static and dynamic behaviour of nations and for the interactions between them, namely the ‘macroeconomical’ approach, the ‘power’- approach and the ‘ideological’ approach. Control engineering is frequently used to build up mathematical models, consisting e.g. of differential or difference equations, transfer functions, state space equations, etc. especially for preferably technical systems. Therefore in this paper an overview about mathematical models for systems of different complexity is given. These models are well known in contral engineering and have to be adapted for the purposes of international stability. Fundamentals of application ot appropriate control. algurithms will also discussed.

Comparison of Digital Control Algorithms for Industrial Robots

Abstract Today most of the industrial robots applied in practice are controlled by means of conventional, linear control algorithms which are implemented in the control computer. The development of faster, weight weight robots yields to additional control problems. For this new generation of robots advanced digital control algorithms are necessary and have to be available in the nearest future. The model for the dynamic behavior is those of a nonlinear, timevarying, multivariable system. Such models are too complicated for the development of control algorithms. Further difficulties arise from the choice of optimal algorithms as well as parameters. A powerful tool for solving these problems is simulation. Therefore, a sufficient accurate model of an industrial robot with simple kinematic structure including the drives and gears was implemented at the analogue part of a hybrid computer system. Various digital control algorithms with the same structure but of different order have been simulated at the digital part. The resulting paths were plotted and offered the possibility to compare these.

Simplified Models for Robot Control

Abstract The differential equations describing the dynamic behaviour of a robotic arm lncluding drives and gears are strongly coupled and highly nonlinear especially in case of an articulated arm. In order to allow the application of the well developed theory and control synthesis procedures for linear systems, a low order, coupled, linear and autonomous model is derived by linearization and order reduction which is - at least for nowadays stiff robots equipped with powerful drives - accurate enough for controller design and - if necessary - path prediction. The suggested procedure is simple and allows to estimate the influence of coupling terms as well as an easy updating of the model and/or controller parameters according to the actual working area

Control engineering methods for international stability

Abstract Conflict resolution was dominated by more or less verbal approaches some years ago. Nowadays system engineering methods are applied to such problems. These methods based on well known principles of control engineering, mathematics, and statistics and offer the possibilty to obtain a quantitative solution. One of the main problems arising is the description of the static and dynamic behavior of conflict partners or systems in form of mathematical methods. Such models are determined either in theoretical or experimental way. Theoretical model building yields to complicated models difficult to handle. Therefore simple models are mostly used determined in a heuristic way. A efficient tool for the verification of such models is simulation. Starting with some remarks on modelling in conflict resolution in this paper as an example a simple model, well known from the literature, is discussed. First the model is formulated in terms of system engineering. Simulation results give a deeper insight in the advantages and disadvantages of using such simple models.

Education in Robotics

Abstract The working group Educational Programs in Robotics of the Technical Comittee on Education (EDCOM) started with the preparation of a worldwide survey report on this topic in 1984. This report should present educational programs in robotics at universities and other schools. In the following preliminary results will be given and discussed. Finally, as an example. the education in robotics in Austria is shortly described

A New Method for the Assessment of Products for Automated Disassembling

Abstract Disassembling which is the starting point of all recycling processes, will be a rising branch in industry where automation will be absolutely necessary. For disassembling products with low cost intelligent manufacturing systems the assessment concerning the possibility of automated disassembling is already important at the very first beginning during its development. Consequently a method for the assessment of the design of a product, the Autodemograph, has been developed. This data structure displays important information for the layout of a disassembly cell. To further assess the design different comparative values which show clearly the efficiency can be calculated. The assessment according to this method will be described accurately.

Modelling of Flexible Robots — An Introduction

Abstract This survey gives a short introduction to the today robot structure and problems of motion control and some remarks for future aspects of lightweight, high performance robots, that will include parts with non negligible flexibilities. How the modelling of this time variant elastic deformations, a substantial part of any control strategy, can principally be done is shown based on the recent literature. The quasistatic method uses substitutive springs to describe the elastic deformations at special locations. For the dynamic behaviour of vibrating flexible links FE-methods, a vibration mode or shape functions approach or other combined methods may be applied. The characteristics of the FE-methods are their advantage of a realistic modelling of complex shaped links but with the drow back of high evaluation time. The vibration mode methods need a special knowledge to select the right set of functions but lead to short evaluation time. Combined methods are also based on a fracturizing of the deformable elements into smaller units, whose elastic properties can be described more easily. The modelling of the elastic properties and an adequate control will be an essential basis for a future time and energy efficient robot performance.