Page 16 - Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots

1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Robotics has achieved its greatest success to date in the world of industrial manufacturing.
Robot arms, or manipulators, comprise a 2 billion dollar industry. Bolted at its shoulder to
a specific position in the assembly line, the robot arm can move with great speed and accu-
racy to perform repetitive tasks such as spot welding and painting (figure 1.1). In the elec-
tronics industry, manipulators place surface-mounted components with superhuman
precision, making the portable telephone and laptop computer possible.
Yet, for all of their successes, these commercial robots suffer from a fundamental dis-
advantage: lack of mobility. A fixed manipulator has a limited range of motion that depends

© KUKA Inc. © SIG Demaurex SA

Figure 1.1
Picture of auto assembly plant-spot welding robot of KUKA and a parallel robot Delta of SIG Demau-
rex SA (invented at EPFL [140]) during packaging of chocolates.