Planet engineering 1984, p.20
Plan[e]t Engineering (1984), page 20
![Plan[e]t Engineering (1984)](https://picture.bookfrom.net/img/gene-wolfe/planet_engineering_1984.jpg "Plan[e]t Engineering (1984)")
Gross load—the total load that m ust be lifted by the robot,
in clu d in g the w eight of its end effector. (See net load.)
Intelligent robot—a robot that chooses between actions according
to the way it senses its environm ent.
Lead through — p ro g ram m in g by physically g u id in g the robot
th ro u g h the desired actions. T h e speed of the robot is increased w hen
p ro g ram m in g is com plete.
Load capacity — the w eight a robot can m an ip u late w ith a fully
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The Anatomy of a Robot
extended arm . It should be noted th a t m ost robots can handle heavier
loads w hen full arm extension is not required.
Machine vision — the capability conferred by a vision system, w hich
see.
M anipulator—a ro b o t’s “a rm .” A ro b o t’s “ h a n d .” A robot.
Mobile robot—a robot w ith wheels or “ legs.” M obile industrial
robots w ill be introduced w ith in the next few years.
Modular robot — a robot m ade by assem bling pre-engineered m odules.
Net load— the w eight of a load less the w eight of containers,
tooling, and the end effector. Even th o u g h the net load is less than a
ro b o t’s load capacity, the gross load may exceed it.
O ff-line program m ing— pro g ram m in g in w hich the com m ands are
stored for execution at a later time. O ff-line p ro g ram m in g is not
carried out in real-time, w hich see.
Open lo o p —w ith o u t feedback. (See feedback.)
Part classification— the identification of differing parts, by a robot,
usually by m eans of vision.
Pattern recognition — identification of visual images by classification in to categories. P attern recognition is usually considered a p a rt of artificial intelligence, w hich see.
Pick-and-place— the sim plest kind of m aterial h an d lin g a p p lication, in w hich a robot picks u p an object at one p o in t and places it at another.
P itch —ro tatio n (especially of the “ h a n d ” ) in a vertical p lan e that
includes the “ arm ,” w hen the “ a rm ” is extended horizontally. (See
yaw, roll.)
P ixel—a sm all elem ent of a picture that is assum ed to be a uniform
shade of gray in creating the digital im age. (See digital image.) T h e
m ore pixels processed per second, the faster the robot can recognize
objects. T h e sm aller the pixels, the less chance the robot w ill m ake a
m istake.
Point-to-point—sim ple m ovem ents in w hich the interm ediate points
(and often the rate of m otion) are no t controlled.
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Planfejt Engineering
Rated load capacity— the load capacity reduced by a factor of safety.
(See load capacity.)
Real-time—tim e logged on the robot. T h e tim e in w hich it is or
could be perform ing work.
Rectangular coordinates—spatial coordinates defined by three
distances. Some robots are program m ed in re ctan g u lar coordinates.
Repeatability —the ability to repeat a m otion and arrive at the same
end point. A robot w ith a repeatability of 0.005 in. can always pu t
the next p a rt w ith in th at distance from where it p u t the last one. (See
accuracy.)
R esolution—the sm allest distance that can be understood by a
ro b o t’s “ b ra in .”
Resolver—a device that converts m echanical position into an
analogous electrical signal.
Robot—a program m able m achine intended to perform a job
originally conceived in terms of a h u m an operator. A p ro g ram mable, m ultifu n ctio n al m an ip u lato r. (See m anipulator.) From the Czech robota, m eaning forced labor.
Robotic—p e rta in in g to robots.
Robotics—the science of designing, b u ild in g , and a p p ly in g robots.
R o ll—rotation (especially of the “ h a n d ” ) abo u t the geom etric axis
of the ro tatin g part.
Sensor—a device that conveys inform ation to the ro b o t’s “ b ra in .”
Servomotor—any m otor that is controlled in response to a feedback
signal. Typically, an electric m otor; but there are hydraulic and
p n eu m atic servomotors as well.
Shake—vibration of a ro b o t’s “ a rm ” an d “ h a n d ” d u rin g or at the
end of a m ovem ent. Lack of shake is one of the hallm arks of a
q u ality robot.
Smart sensor—a sensor whose o u tp u t depends on internal data or on
in p u t from another part of the system.
Spherical coordinates —spatial coordinates defined by two angles and
a distance. Some robots are program m ed in spherical coordinates.
Stop—a m echanical constrain t on m otion.
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The Anatomy of a Robot
Teach b ox—a hand-held control w ith w hich a robot can be
program m ed.
Teach pendant—a teach box connected to the ro b o t’s “ b ra in ” by a
cable. (See teach box.)
Teleoperator—a m obile “ ro b o t” controlled by a h u m an operator.
T eleoperators are most often used in areas that w ould be hazardous
to h u m an beings.
Val — the U nim ate p ro g ram m in g language.
Vision system — a system, typically based on a black-and-w hite TV
cam era an d a m icrocom puter, that allow s a robot to see.
Walk through — p ro g ram m in g by giving the robot instructions one
by one, w ith the robot executing each before receiving the next. T h e
speed of the robot is increased w hen p ro g ram m in g is satisfactory. A
teach box is usually used.
Work cell — a m an u fa ctu rin g u n it consisting of one or m ore work
stations. (See w ork station.)
Work envelope— the space w ith in a ro b o t’s reach.
Work station — a m an u factu rin g un it consisting of one robot and
the m achine tools, conveyors, an d other equ ip m en t w ith w hich it
interacts.
Working range—the distance from the center of a ro b o t’s base to the
m ost distant part of its work envelope.
World coordinates—a coordinate system based on the p la n t floor.
Yaw—rotatio n (especially of the “ h a n d ” ) in a horizontal plane when
the “ a rm ” is extended horizontally.
Zero p oin t— the origin of a coordinate system.
755
T h is book was designed by D. C hristine Benders;
set in Baskerville by Greg T h o k a r at T yp o -T ech
R ep ro d u ctio n Center, Inc. w ith assistance fro m George
F lynn, J im M ann, Sue H a m m o n d , Sharon Sbarsky
and A le xis L ayton; p rin ted on 60# w h ite offset by
B rau n -B ru m field , Inc. o f A n n A rbor, M ichigan.
G EN E W OLFE, born on May 7,
1931 in Brooklyn, NY, spent m ost
of his childhood grow ing u p in
Texas. An engineer by training,
his science fiction stories were
first published d u rin g the m idsixties. H e is a graduate of the
famed M ilford SF W riting C onferences hosted by D am on K night
and his stories appeared regularly
in K n ig h t’s O rbit series. Gene
Wolfe is perhaps best know n for
his massive work T h e Book o f the
N ew Sun. T h is four volum e novel
has w on num erous aw ards since
the first book appeared in 1980.
Mr. Wolfe currently resides in
Illinois an d is a Senior E ditor at
P lant E ngineering m agazine.
Plan[e]t E ngineering is published
as a lim ited an d num bered ru n
w ith a slipcased and au tographed
edition of 225 (num bers 1-225) and
a dust-jacketed edition of 775
(num bers 226-1000).
Cover artw ork by V incent Di Fate.
M ap by Suford Lewis.
THE NESFA PRESS
BOX G, MIT BRANCH P.O.
CAMBRIDGE, MA 02139-0910
1984
Photo by Cathy Acherman
Gene Wolfe, Plan[e]t Engineering (1984)
