Manipulator is a new type of equipment developed in the process of mechanized and automated production. It is an important branch of robot. Its characteristic is that it can complete various expected tasks through programming, and it has the advantages of both human and machine in structure and performance, especially reflecting human intelligence and adaptability. In modern production process, manipulator is widely used in automatic production line. Although the manipulator is not as flexible as the human hand at present, it has the characteristics of being able to work repeatedly and not knowing fatigue and danger, and its strength in lifting heavy objects is greater than that of the human hand. Therefore, the manipulator has attracted the attention of many departments and has been widely used.
The manipulator was first developed in America. 1958 American control company developed the first manipulator. Its structure is: a rotating long arm is installed on the fuselage, and a workpiece grasping and placing mechanism with an electromagnetic block is installed at the top. The control system is teaching. 1962, based on the above scheme, the United States joint control company tried to make a numerical control teaching and reproducing manipulator. The name of the enterprise is Unimate (General Automation). The motion system is modeled after the tank turret, and the arm can rotate, pitch and expand, and is driven by hydraulic pressure. The control system uses a magnetic drum as a storage device. On this basis, many universal spherical coordinate manipulators have been developed. In the same year, American machinery manufacturing companies also successfully tested a manipulator called Vewrsatran. The central column of the manipulator can be rotated and lifted, and the hydraulic drive control system is also a teaching and reproduction type. These two kinds of manipulators appeared in the early 1960s, which are the basis for the development of industrial manipulators abroad. 1978, Unimate, Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology jointly developed the Unimate-Vicarm industrial manipulator, which was controlled by a small computer and used for assembly work. The positioning error is less than 65438 0 mm. KnKa company of the Federal Republic of Germany also produces spot welding manipulator, which adopts articulated structure and program control.
At present, most manipulators still belong to the first generation, mainly relying on manual control; The improvement direction is mainly to reduce the cost and improve the accuracy. The second generation manipulator is stepping up its development. It is equipped with a microcomputer control system, which has the ability of vision, touch and even hearing and thinking. Research and install various sensors to feed back the sensing information, so that the manipulator has the sensing function. The third generation manipulator can independently complete the tasks in the working process. It keeps in touch with computer and TV equipment, and gradually develops into an important link of FMS and FMC.