Page 462 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

Sensors in Flexible Manufacturing Systems

FIGURE 8.33 Layout of a robot assembly and variable transport system. 415

8.12.1 Control Computer
The computer used to control the system is microprocessor-based.
The main processor unit (MPU) is a VME-bus-compatible single-board
computer featuring a 68010 processor, 1-Mb dual-ported RAM, a 35-Mb
Winchester disk, and a 1-Mb floppy disk. The system runs under the
UNIX V operating system.
Real-time performance is obtained by two special processing
units (SPUs). The first SPU realizes the control and interfacing of
the robot and the interfacing of the sensors. It links the VME bus to
the G64 bus to which the robot, the VTS, the torque-force sensor,
and the ultrasound sensor are interfaced. This processor controls
the computer link and the adaptive control of the robot. The processor
board consists of a 68000 processor and 48-kb RAM. The second
SPU is the vision processing board. This board communicates with
the vision boards and the other SPU via the VME bus. It consists of
a 68010 processor, 256-kb RAM, and an NS16081 floating-point
processor.