Page 10 - Robot Builders Source Book - Gordon McComb

This book provides information on the stages of machinery design for automated
manufacturing and offers a step-by-step process for making it optimal. This is illus-
trated by numerous examples of technical concepts taken from different manufac-
turing domains. The author, being a university teacher, sees that teaching curricula
and textbooks most often do not provide the answers to the questions: How are things
built? How do they work? How does one best approach the design process for a spe-
cific machine? Most textbooks emphasize computation theories and techniques and
deal less with the physical objects that the theories describe.
During recent years, some new techniques have been developed and put into wide-
spread use. The book thus covers such modern concepts as rapid modeling; automated
assembly; parallel-driven robots; and mechatronic systems for reducing dynamic errors
of a mechanical link by continuous, close-to-optimal, control of its oscillation para-
meters by electronic means. The author understands that writing and publishing pro-
cedure can involve a time lag between the contents of the book and the real, rapidly
developing world. The revised edition of the book is based on an evaluation of both
current principles and newly developed concepts.
Some experiments carried out in the laboratory and described here also serve as
illustrations for the relevant topics; for instance:
• Automotive mechanical assembly of a product by a manipulator (robot),
• Systems for reducing vibrations,
• Parallel-driven robots.

In this edition, greater use is made of calculation examples. Calculations performed
mostly with the help of the MATHEMATICA program have a number of advantages: they
are time-saving, are especially useful in solving nonlinear equations, and are capable
of providing a graphic display of processes. Problems and solutions are integrated
into the text so as to provide a better understanding of the contents by quantitatively
illustrating the solutions and procedures. This also helps in solving other problems of

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