Lesson 1

The reading module

Read the text: History of Industrial Robotics

George C. Devol (1982)

George Devol applied for the first robotics patents in 1954 (granted in 1961). The first company to produce a robot was Unimation, founded by George Devol and Joseph F. Engelberger in 1956, and was based on Devol's original patents. Unimation robots were also called programmable transfer machines since their main use at first was to transfer objects from one point to another, less than a dozen feet or so apart. They used hydraulic actuators and were programmed in joint coordinates, i.e. the angles of the various joints were stored during a teaching phase and replayed in operation. They were accurate to within 1/10, 000 of an inch. Unimation later licensed their technology to Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Guest-Nettlefolds, manufacturing Unimates in Japan and England respectively. For some time Unimation's only competitor was Cincinnati Milacron Inc. of Ohio. This changed radically in the late 1970s when several big Japanese conglomerates began producing similar industrial robots.

In 1969 Victor Scheinman at Stanford University invented the Stanford arm, an all-electric, 6-axis articulated robot designed to permit an arm solution. This allowed it to accurately follow arbitrary paths in space and widened the potential use of the robot to more sophisticated applications such as assembly and arc welding. Scheinman then designed a second arm for the MIT AI Lab, called the " MIT arm." Scheinman, after receiving a fellowship from Unimation to develop his designs, sold those designs to Unimation who further developed them with support from General Motors and later marketed it as the Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly (PUMA).

In 1973 KUKA Robotics built its first robot, known as FAMULUS, this is the first articulated robot to have six electromechanically driven axes.

Interest in robotics swelled in the late 1970s and many companies entered the field, including large firms like General Electric, and General Motors (which formed joint venture FANUC Robotics with FANUC LTD of Japan). US start-ups included Automatix and Adept Technology, Inc. At the height of the robot boom in 1984, Unimation was acquired by Westinghouse Electric Corporation for 107 million US dollars. Westinghouse sold Unimation to Stä ubli Faverges SCA of France in 1988. Stä ubli was still making articulated robots for general industrial and clean room applications as of 2004 and even bought the robotic division of Bosch in late 2004.

Eventually the myopic vision of American industry was superseded by the financial resources and strong domestic market enjoyed by the Japanese manufacturers. Only a few non-Japanese companies managed to survive in this market, including Adept Technology, Stä ubli-Unimation, the Swedish-Swiss company ABB (ASEA Brown-Boveri), the Austrian manufacturer igm Robotersysteme AG and the German company KUKA Robotics.

After text activity

I. Reading Exercises:

Exercise 1.Read and memorize using a dictionary:

Exercise 2.Answer the questions:

1) How were unimation robots also called?

2) What did Victor Scheinman invent?

3) When did interest in robotics swell?

Exercise 3.Match the left part with the right:

Exercise 4: Open brackets choosing the right words:

Unimation robots were also(called/named) programmable transfer machines since their(main/general) use at first was to transfer objects from one point to another, (less/more) than a dozen feet or so apart.

The speaking module

II. Speaking Exercises:

Exercise 1. Describe axis, robot, welding, assembly, machine using the suggested words and expressionsas in example:

Exercise 2.Ask questions to the given answers:

1) Question: ___________________________________?

Answer: George Devol applied for the first robotics patents in 1954.

2) Question: _____________________________?

Answer: Unimation robots were also called programmable transfer machines.

3) Question: _____________________________?

Answer: Interest in robotics swelled in the late 1970s and many companies entered the field.

The writing module

III. Writing exercises:

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences with the suggested words: also, since, at, to, from, or, in, of, during.

Unimation robots were ______ called programmable transfer machines ____ their main use __ first was __ transfer objects ____ one point __ another, less than a dozen feet ___so apart. They used hydraulic actuators and were programmed ____ joint coordinates, i.e. the angles __ the various joints were stored ______ a teaching phase and replayed __ operation. They were accurate to _______ 1/10, 000 of an inch.

Exercise 2. Fill in the table with words and expressions from the text

Exercise 3. Compose a story on one of the topics (up to 100 words):

“Unimation robots.”

“The Stanford arm.”

“The first articulated robot.”