Pitching Workpieces to Minimize the Cycle Time of Industrial Robots

Abstract

Pitching workpieces can significantly reduce the cycle time of industrial robots and extend their workspace. A control method for pitching workpieces by cylindrical coordinate type robots is developed and can be readily implemented by a computer program technique which calculates the minimum time that a robot must hold a workpiece before it is pitched to a target. For a given target location, the robot programmer supplies data to the program about the initial position of the arm and the robot's vertical, extension and rotational velocities. The outputs are the release position coordinates and the release velocity components associated with the minimum handling time. This information is used to set the controls on an industrial robot. If the workpiece receptacle location is adjustable, vertical heights of horizontal target planes are entered as input. Plots are then generated of minimum handling times for each selected target plane. This information and a knowledge of workpiece constraints helps a robot programmer select a workpiece receptacle location with the shortest possible minimum handling time.

Citation

Birk, J.R. and Franklin, D.E. (1974), "Pitching Workpieces to Minimize the Cycle Time of Industrial Robots", Industrial Robot, Vol. 1 No. 5, pp. 217-222. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb004730