Opinion Time

To All,

What determines what is a robot and what is not a robot? Is a pick and place system considered a robot? Sorry if it seems like I am splitting hairs on this one. I don’t think
A simple pick and place is a robot but that is subjective.

Thanks,
Bob

No facts or definitions?
I would say that a simple pick and place is a VERY SIMPLE robot with limited range of motion. MY OPINION
Again, my opinion,...its hard to compare the articulated motions of a 6 axis robot to a pick and place. You could put them side by side and see the obvious differences. Then again what would you call a pick and place application? A robot!
I think any simulated human arm movement would be considered a robotic motion.
Tim

Interesting question...

What is the definition of "robot" or "robotic"?
Is it an acronym?

As far as the origin of the word "robot" - no, this is not an acronym. This is one of the very few Slavic words that made their way into English.

Back in 1920s, a stage piece titled "R.U.R." by Czech author Karel Capek was (in translation, of course) quite popular in theaters of Europe and America. In it, some mechanical human-like contraptions appeared. The author called them "robots" - "workers", "robota" (or "rabota") being the word common for most of the Slavic languages and literally meaning "work" or "labor". Somehow, the word has stuck. You never know why, we might as well today call them "trabajots" instead of "robots"...

Well, so much for the linguistics part of it. As far as clear technical distiction between a gantry system and a robot - I am not sure. Just as not sure about the difference between an advanced multi-axis motion controller and a CNC...

Does anyone have access to the standards on this page?:

http://www.roboticsonline.com/store/category.cfm?category_id=74

There's bound to be a definition of robot in there somewhere.

Bob O said:

I don’t think A simple pick and place is a robot but that is subjective

Click to expand...

I don't either, and that's why we (meaning you and I) call it "a simple pick and place", not a robot... :nodi:

BUT...

Most would call the device that 'picks' parts out of a mold and 'places' the parts on a downstream system a robot...

Me? I call that 'removal equipment'...

g.robert had a similar 'unanswerable' question recently in THIS THREAD.

I don't think we came to a concensus on that one either...

beerchug

-Eric

P.S. Look up 'robot' at www.dictionary.com. It seems even my toaster qualifies as a 'robot'...

More trivia, following on from LaddarLogic's informative post....

'Robotic' and 'Robotics' (as in the field of robotics) was actually coined by the science fiction writer and all round intelligent guy Issak Asimov in his robot short stories (see the book 'I Robot'). It was only after he had written a few of them that he realised that he had invented this term. Since these stories were popular amongst budding engineers and scientists, the term stuck.....

Doug

Thank you.