Page 16 - Robot Builders Source Book - Gordon McComb

1.1 What Robots Are 5

needed sharpening, replacing, or tuning; computation of the optimal working condi-
tions such as cutting speeds, feeds, and depths; and changing tools to cater to the pro-
cessing sequence.
We have described the development of the lathe as representative of the world of
automatically operated industrial machines. Similarly, we could have chosen the devel-
opment of textile machinery or, perhaps the most outstanding example of all, of print-
ing. Techniques for the printing of books and newspapers had their origin in Europe
(we do not know their history in China) in the fifteenth century when Johannes Guten-
berg invented the first printing press. In the beginning the typesetting process was
purely manual, being based on the use of movable type. This method remained essen-
tially unchanged until the twentieth century. The problem of mechanizing typesetting
was first tackled by Ottmar Mergenthaler, an American inventor who "cast thin slugs
of a molten fast-cooling alloy from brass matrices of characters activated by a type-
writer-like keyboard; each slug represented a column line of type." This machine was
known as a linotype machine (patented in 1884). In 1885, a short time later, another
American, Tolbert Lawton, created the monotype printing press in which type is cast
in individual letters. Further development led to the creation of machines operated by
electronic means, which resulted in higher productivity, since one machine could
process the material of a number of compositors. Indeed, the computerized printing
systems available today have completely changed the face of traditional typography.
In Koren's book Robotics for Engineers, [3] we find some additional definitions of
robots. For instance, an industrial robot is defined as "a programmable mechanical
manipulator, capable of moving along several directions, equipped at its end with a
work device called the end effector (or tool) and capable of performing factory work
ordinarily done by human beings. The term robot is used for a manipulator that has
a built-in control system and is capable of stand-alone operation." Another definition
of a robot—taken from the Robotics International Division of the Society of Manufac-
turing Engineers—is also given in that book, i.e., a robot is "a reprogrammable multi-
functional manipulator designed to move materials, parts, tools, or specialized devices
through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks."
We read in Koren's book that it is essential to include in the definition of a robot
keywords such as "motion along several directions," "end effector," and "factory work."
Otherwise "washing machines, automatic tool changers, or manufacturing machines
for mass production might be defined as robots as well, and this is not our intention."
The question we must now pose is: What is wrong with defining a washing machine,
a tool changer, or an automatically acting manufacturing machine as a robot? Are they
not machines? Would it be right to say that washing machines do not belong to the
family of robots when they act according to the concepts accredited to modern devices
of this sort? And would it be justified to relate the concept shown in Figure 1.3 to the
robot family? We will return to this example later when we discuss the concept of an
automatic or a robotic system for the realization of a particular industrial task.
We are, in fact, surrounded by objects produced by machines, many of which com-
pletely fit the above-cited definitions of robots of higher or lower levels of sophistica-
tion. For example:
• Cans for beer or preserved foodstuffs
• Ball bearings and ballpoint pens
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