A production engineering approach to robot selection

The successful introduction of robots into an industrial enterprise means real commitment, engineering support, and detailed involvement in the planning of an integrated manufacturing system. In particular, the production engineer is clearly seen in this context to be the system designer. He must therefore be in a position to specify the performance of all man and machine components within the system such that productivity is maximised. Robot types are reviewed, and analogies between man and machine are used to introduce the RTM concept. Finally, a simple method is given for estimating robot throughput times from elementary velocity profiles. The fall-off in throughput due to the effect of many small robot movements is emphasised.