Review of Industrial Robotics

If you’re a technician in a manufacturing plant that uses robots, you will be expected to work on robots and their circuits as part of your job in a modern industrial facility. You may need to review the first part of this section to identify the type of robot that you are working with, or you may need to identify the type of actuators such as electric motors, hydraulics, or pneumatics that the robot uses. You may also need to review material on ac and dc servo systems and their amplifiers, which are similar to the ac and dc motor amplifiers. After you have been on the job for a while, you will begin to notice that much of the sensor technology and motor drive technology used in other applications of industrial electronics is also used with robotic applications. This will make you feel more comfortable when you have to work on different types of systems. At first you may be intimidated by the different types of robot program languages, but you will quickly find that all you need to be able to do as an electronics technician is to start up the robot, jog it around, and make minor changes to the program. As you gain experience, you will be requested to help design interface systems so robots can be integrated with other traditional applications in the factory.