Join an expert panel put together by the Design World editorial team to examine the latest developments and challenges in the ever-changing field of robotics. We’ll learn about Clearpath Robotics’ unmanned vehicles, used for research and development, and what design challenges they faced in developing their products. Panelists will discuss what some of the best practices are for engineers involved in the design of robotics. We’ll also talk about safety issues in robotics and why ease of use of industrial robots is becoming more important. And we’ll examine what’s driving robotics technology today, as well as where the field is going in the coming years.

1. The Challenges of Robotic Design

2. Before We Start
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 Q&A at the end of the presentation
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3. Thank You To Our Sponsors

4. Moderator
Paul Heney
Design World
Presenters
Nick J. Hunt
Erik Nieves
Ryan Gariepy
ABB
Yaskawa
ClearPath Robotics

5. Nicholas Hunt
Safety and Ease of Use in Robotics

6. What is a “safe” robot system?
o
o
o
o
All hazards identified using qualified process (e.g. RIA risk assessment)
Measures implemented by OEMs and system design engineers
Procedures documented and available
Workers trained
Safety is now ensured
Isaac would be proud . . . .

7. Collaboration – a game changer
o A rising trend in the design of automation
o The modernization of robot safety paradigm
• Stop circuit philosophy had to change
o Old technology “Hold” circuit eliminated
o Dry contact E-Stops allowed over safety bus
• New philosophy of safe motion monitoring
o Mechanical stops replaced by software
o Humans handing part to “live” robot
o Open factory floor design
• Inherently safe robots intensify collaboration with humans
o New assumption: Robot to human mishap will occur
o Low momentum multi-arm robots

8. Elements of a safe robot system
o Safety interlocked fixed guarding
o Physical stops or certified alternative
o E-Stops and Dual-channel stops
o Palm buttons, Gate boxes, Safety mats
o Robot servo lock-out box
o Scanners, Light fences, volumetric
sensing,
o (Safety) PLC

9. Don’t force robot operators to take
matters into their own hands . . . .

10. Ease of use
o
o
o
o
o
o
Arguably, second only to safety
Can be viewed as enabler to safer operation
Consistent and intuitive operation
Effectively increases worker skill level
Emphasis on automatic operation
Poka Yokes
TM
ABB Robot Application Builder
Common Elements
o
o
o
o
GUI based HMI and Configuration Wizards
Offline cell simulation with direct upload to robot
Dynamic exception handling and recovery
Context sensitive online Help
TM
ABB RobotStudio

11. Philosophy of minimum exposure
o Be vigilant in hazard analysis, elimination and control
o Design-in ease of use as an enabler to safe operation
o Employ Poka Yoke methods wherever possible
o Seek to eliminate ambiguous fault annunciation
o Use dynamic exception handling for intelligent fault recovery
o Allow for rejects in cell layout and application design

13. Robotics Development Trends
Robotics | Motion | Drives

14. Robotics Evolution
2013 – Robots
20?? – Production Partners
ROI model requires medium to
large lot sizes
ROI achieved even with small lots
Repeatable tasks, few program changes
One-off tasks as standard
Programming from “robot expert” or process engineer
Programming by shop floor operator using
intuitive direct-teaching methods. Automatically
generated programs are also prevalent.
Perception limited to simple vision
Perception in various forms; vision, force/torque,
tactile, Robust sensor fusion
Robot does not share space or interact with people
Space is shared (no fences) and interaction is
frequent (parts loading & Intelligent Assist Device)
Fixed installation, or positioners
Robots freely deployable to needed work zone.

15. Robotics Evolution
20?? – Production Partners
ROI achieved even with small lots
One-off tasks as standard
Programming by shop floor operator using
intuitive direct-teaching methods. Automatically
generated programs are also prevalent.
Perception in various forms; vision, force/torque,
tactile, Robust sensor fusion
Space is shared (no fences) and interaction is
frequent (parts loading & Intelligent Assist
Device)
Robots freely deployable to needed work zone.
 Perception
 Mobility
 Ease of Use

16. Perception - Vision
2D Vision
mature technology
widely applied in robotics
3D Vision
on the innovation curve
several competing technologies
many small players
“the bin picking problem”

17. Perception - Kinect
Low cost 3D
leverage point cloud generation of
Kinect
Vision as teaching tool
using skeleton tracking as input device

18. Perception - Ease of Use
Courtesy of Industrial Perception, Inc.

19. Perception – Force/Torque/Tactile Sensing
Courtesy of Inelta GmbH
Courtesy of DLR
Courtesy of Syntouch LLC
Fusion of sensor
modalities is crucial to
effective perception

20. Dexterity and Force Control
With Non-Rigid Materials

21. Grasping – from dedicated to flexible
Dedicated
mature technology
limited to families of parts
Flexible
Courtesy of Schunk
emerging tech
not cost effective
Courtesy of Shadow Hand

22. Grasping – from dedicated to flexible
 Robots are valuable only
in so far as the end
effector is successful.
 “Solve the gripper
problem and you solve
the robot problem.” –
Del Tesar, UTexas
 “It’s the gripper, stupid.”
– Bill Clinton
(paraphrase)
Courtesy of Robotiq

23. Kitting – dexterity and grasping

24. Open Software – Ease of Use
INDUSTRIES...
INDUSTRIES...
Automotive, agriculture, construction and heavy
machinery
Consumer products, medical, education and advanced
robotics
APPLICATIONS...
APPLICATIONS...
Arc welding, spot welding and painting
Assembly, material handling, test and
measurement, and inspection

25. Open Software – Ease of Use
INDUSTRIES...
INDUSTRIES...
Research, education, defense and advanced robotics
Food, beverage and consumer products
APPLICATIONS...
APPLICATIONS...
Visual servoing robots. Pick and place in unstructured
environments. Mobility
Packaging, kitting, case, packing and palletizing

26. ROS for Deburring

27. Summary
 There are societal and market drivers moving the robotics industry
forward
 The technologies required to meet these challenges are developing
rapidly, due in large part to the ubiquity of computing power and
consumer electronics.
 Perception, Mobility, Grasping, and Ease of Use will ensure that
robotics will meet the promise of easing the burden of labor.
 Questions/comments?
 erik.nieves@motoman.com

28. Ryan Gariepy, CTO
rgariepy@clearpathrobotics.com

29. Research Products

30. Industrial Services

31. Unmanned Survey

32. Design Challenges
•
•
•
•
Multidisciplinary engineering
Test and validation
Hardware & rapid iteration
Reliability vs. features

33. Best Practices
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•
•
•
•
Open-source software
Upfront risk analysis, test plans
User-focused design
Self-testing and diagnosis
Get simple robots accepted first

34. Future of Autonomy
Rethink Robotics Baxter
Aeryon Labs SkyRanger

35. Future of Autonomy
NASA Ames PhoneSat
John Deere 6R Series
nest Thermostat

36. Future of Autonomy
University of Oxford RobotCar
SwRI/ROS-Industrial
Zookal

37. Questions?
Design World
Paul Heney
pheney@wtwhmedia.com
Phone: 440.234.4531
Twitter: @DW_Editor
ClearPath Robotics
Ryan Gariepy
rgariepy@clearpathrobotics.com
ABB
Nick J. Hunt
Nick.j.hunt@us.abb.com
Yaskawa
Erik Nieves
Erik.nieves@motoman.com

38. Thank You
 This webinar will be available at designworldonline.com & email
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