As the utility of industrial automation robotics has positively impacted the cost of manufacturing, the size of products that are being manufactured have influenced the size of robotics. The manufacturing of smaller and smaller electronic devices has had a great influence on the size of industrial automation robotics that are used to produce them. Some of the processes that industrial automation robotics are required to do would not be possible if the operations were manual. Consistent insertion of diodes and capacitors onto electronic boards or the insertion of tiny fasteners into assemblies are examples of chores that automation robotics perform very well.
Demands of production that are made on industrial robotics also require that tasks that are accomplished be very fast in addition to being accurate. The combination of speed and accuracy that is required has caused a shift in the use of some types of robots. SCARA robotics have been replaced in some cases by Delta robotics to get the precision and speed that is needed. The characteristic overhead mounting of Delta robotics make them the best for working in a larger area below the robot. Having six axis freedom the Delta robotic has the ability to perform multiple location movements to get parts into a wide variety of positions very quickly. The speed of these robots make them ideal for the assembly of very small electronic units.
There has also been a shift in the capabilities of other robot types. SCARA robots were once the only robot used in the assembly electronic products. Now with the speed increases that are capable of articulated arm robotics these units can effectively be used in soldering and solar cell construction. Articulated arm robots are easier to program and have good flexibility for assembly.
Tabletop articulates are very applicable to the application that assembles mobile phones. This robotic is very useful in taking parts from a vertical orientation to a horizontal. In the assembly and testing of mobile phones the robotic can take an electronic board from the vertical and place it into a testing position at the horizontal. These articulates are also very successful in handling very thin organic products in a vacuum environment with great precision.
Since the working world of industrial automation robotics has gotten smaller and more demanding, the internal electronics of the robotics have also gotten smaller. The size of circuit boards and processors have shrunk while the speed is going up dramatically and the reliability is increasing. Controllers that act as the brains of any robotic system were the size of a small refrigerator not long ago. Now those same type units have the footprint of a desktop computer and are shrinking more even now. These controllers are also benefiting from the pressure of technology, which is packing more and more power into smaller and smaller units. The environment where both the robot and its controller need to fit has shrunk, so these smaller size changes are required. Since the size is down the weight of a robotic is also down. This is important because this allows the speed of the robot to go up easier, and acceleration and deceleration can be accomplished more readily in high-speed applications.
Communications for industrial automation is usually now done through an Ethernet connection that goes into the company network. Having this connection lets the company do detailed analysis of production capability. Some robotics have a communications interface that will allow end-user connection to complex robot functions for testing and other applications. Because the cost of memory components and other parts have become inexpensive, it is now possible to have very effective production analysis done at reasonably cost. Data can be collected in databases on the network server so that production analysis can be done from many aspects.
