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Robotics Control System

Abstract

Process control is an upcoming technological advancement in manufacturing and engineering sectors that aids companies to provide consistent outputs or products. The above technology aims at enhancing synonymy in the products that a process yields. It enables automation of activities during the production process to an extent that little human labor is required to control such a system. For instance, during the oil refining process, utilization of process control technology ensures automated regulation of temperatures during the whole process. It is also important to note that the utilization of process control systems aid in mass production of goods. System integration ensures that the individual subsystems perform as one.

Robotics control system is an emerging field in the process control system technology since the former involves automation of different components of a robot. Specifically, many systems are integrated to form a fully functional robot. For clarity purposes, it is important to understand that a robot is a machine that is guided and operated through computer programs and circuits. The control mechanism of robots and the automation of various components of the robot system utilizes some aspects of process control systems. Robotics, on the other hand, refers to the process that yields a fully functional robot. The process entails design, control, construction, test and information processing of both the robot’s software and hardware.

Discussion

System integration in robots refers to the process of bringing together different components of the robot’s software so as to form one uniform system, the robot. These different components are brought together through the use of computer programs and utilities in order to yield one comprehensive unit that is fully functional but yet depends on the full functionality of the individual components. Thus, it is important to note that the proper functionality of a robot is determined immensely by the performance of the single systems and software making up the robot. It is important for the robot software integration to be undertaken keenly and carefully in order to avoid instances where the robotic control system fails to work in the long run, or malfunctions after little period of operation. Robot integration companies, such as Robotworx, are companies that specialize in manufacture, assembly and automation of robots. These companies create a sync between the hardware and the software parts of the robots.

In robotics, various processes have to be integrated for the robot to perform and function properly. The basic operating software that has consistently been in use since the year 2007 is the Robot Operating System. Different software are brought together to form an operating system that handles all the aspects that a robot needs in order to function properly. The integration of these pieces of software is of utmost importance since it is through them that the operating system derives its importance. Different systems and software are required for the proper function of the robot such as the software that grants the robot the ability to perceive things, grasp, motion and gesture commands.

In addition, robots need systems that grant them the ability to identify objects, image segmentation and face recognition. Image segmentation is the software that grants the robot the ability to identify the nature of images faster and effortlessly; it makes identification of easier and gives images more meaning so that the robot can analyze and interpret the image fast. Moreover, mobility in robots is of significance. Robot software mobility may be used to control mobility through legs or wheels. Moreover, robots in industries mostly tend to move mostly through their hands since there are deeply involved in the production processes that humans cannot. They are mostly controlled through joysticks, manual control or automated robot motion control mechanisms.

Integrated process control systems have their pros and cons. To begin with, one of their advantages is that these control systems normally yield products that can perform functions that might be difficult for the human beings to perform. For instance, robotics yield robots that perform boring, dangerous or difficult tasks that would be detrimental to the well-being of humans. Moreover, it is important to note since most of the control systems are machines, they increase the degree of accuracy in the manufacturing process and simultaneously decreases the quantity of defective units produced. The above follows from the fact that robots are a product of different pieces of software which are coded with a high degree of accuracy with little chances of compromising on quality. Also, robot process control system has the ability to integrate its functionality with that of human beings so as to yield better results in the processes it performs. A combination of robot’s software functionality with the functionality of a human being would be a win-win for everyone since that would translate to increased efficiency and accuracy.

However, it is important to note that robotics does not always result to a better results. Errors during the integration of the individual software always result to detrimental results, some of which could be fatal. In addition, most process integration products serve to perform functions that human beings perform. For instance, robots in manufacturing firms and industries perform duties in the production process that human beings should be performing. Thus, the above results to widespread cases of unemployment and loss of revenue income to human beings. In the recent past, organizations and international bodies have unceasingly continued to raise concerns about the electronic waste emitted by robots and other system integrated control systems. For example, questions and concerns have been raised about where the remnants during the manufacturing process is dumped, and how “dead” robots are disposed. Taking into consideration that most of the electronic waste from integrated control systems is non-biodegradable, it is important to control this waste.

Analysis

As mentioned earlier, robotics entails bringing together different hardware and software parts of a robot to yield a fully functional unit. The integration process, therefore, entails bringing together different parts of the robot and synchronizing their functionality in order for them to perform and work as one duty. The initial process in robotics is designing of the hardware and software parts of the system. The design part serves to materialize and conceptualize the ideas of the owners. Designing is done in a manner that fully satisfies the work that the final robot should be performing. For instance, for robots to be used in industries, designing is customized to suit such an environment. Afterwards, the hardware parts are brought together and joined in order to yield one major full unit. Thereafter, software integration and programming takes place. During the programming stage, all the functional units are assumed to have different functional features. For instance, the “hands” have grasping software orientation while the “legs” have software orientations that favor mobility. The “head” is further assumed to incorporate software biased towards vision. Therefore, the software programming bit serves to bring together all the above functions into one major control center. Further, all of them are interlinked in a manner that performance of a function by one part does not hinder the performance by another part. In other words, all the software are synchronized with one another. Moreover, memory recording is defined in a way that it records actions pursued by different parts.

During system integration, various hurdles are encountered. For instance, many robotics systems experience incompatibility between different parts of the system. It is possible to find that the functioning of the memory is not compatible with the way the body functions. Software programmers and those who code usually find it difficult to establish a common ground between such systems in order to merge them. Further, system integration might be faced with the problem of inadequate and insufficient data to fully integrate the systems. The above normally happens in instance where the design and integration is done by different entities or in cases where there is inadequate flow of information between different stakeholders in an organization. Insufficient information derails the functionality of robots, and might at times result to hazardous repercussions. In addition, system security might be compromised especially in instances where different parts of the subsystem have diverse authorization and coding techniques used.

In the current world, industries have resulted to immense utilization of robots in the production process. For Specifically, General Motors is on the forefront of robot utilization with over 10% of its motor vehicle assembly being done by robots. Utilization of these robots has increased efficiency, decreased defective output, saved on labor costs and enhanced production periods. However, companies utilizing robot technology have had to incur immense costs to acquire such control systems.

Conclusion

From the above, it is evident that process control technology is the new way of doing things. Specifically, robotic control systems have continued to revolutionize the performance of industries through increasing efficiency and accuracy. Moreover, system integration of such control systems yields much benefits since the final robot is as a result of many individual software.

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