Robotics and Automation Flashcards
1
Q
What areas of utilities is it used in ?
A
Water and wastewater, electric power, telecommunications
2
Q
How is automation used in defence ?
A
Production, transportation, strike, target
3
Q
How does automation increase productivity ?
A
Increases productivity per unit labour
4
Q
How does automation improve job design ?
A
Introduces flexibility of design
5
Q
What areas of manufacturing is automation used in ?
A
Food & Pharmaceutical, Chemical and petroleum, pulp and paper
6
Q
What are the two broad categories in which robots can be applied ?
A
General and Industry
7
Q
What are the kind of hazardous conditions robots can brave ?
A
Toxicity, Heat, Radiation
8
Q
Where does a robot win over manual labour ?
A
In Repetitive Work
9
Q
Why ?
A
It does not get fatigued or bored
10
Q
How do robots carry out inspection ?
A
Mechanical probes, optical sensors, measuring devices
11
Q
How many samples can robots inspect ?
A
100%
12
Q
In industries, where do robots perform material transfer ?
A
From point to point or conveyor to machine
13
Q
After transfering material, what are some processing operations robotics finds application in ?
A
Welding, riveting, drilling, spray painting
14
Q
Why are robots highly efficient for assembly work ?
A
It is repetitive work
15
Q
How do robots help ?
A
They improve product quality and reliability
16
Q
Where is automation used in the manufacturing sector ?
A
Food and pharmaceutical, Chemical and Petroleum, Paper and pulp
17
Q
Where is automation used in transportation ?
A
Marine, railways, aerospace, automotive
18
Q
Where is automation used in utilities sector ?
A
Water and waste water, electric power, telecommunication
19
Q
Where is automation used in defense ?
A
Production, Transportation and Strikes
20
Q
What facility operation sectors are automation used in ?
A
Security, Energy Management, Environmental Control
21
Q
What are the three categories of automation ?
A
Fixed, Programmable, Flexible
22
Q
Which automation has the least initial cost ?
A
Fixed, for regular jobs
23
Q
Why ?
A
The instruments are generally fixed and do not have much variety
24
Q
What is the production volume Fixed Automation generally handles ?
A
Mass Production. When there is a high demand for high volume.
25
What are some general applications of fixed automation ?
Bottling plants, Packaging Plants
26
Which automation has the highest initial cost ?
Flexible
27
What is the general production volume handled by programmable automation ?
Batch Production in low- to- medium
28
How often can programmable automation change the sequence of operation ?
It can change from batch to batch.
29
How is this achieved ?
By new program commands, tool changes and fixture modification.
30
Why does Programmable automation take the highest set up time ?
The system has to be completely set before each batch.
31
How much variety can flexible automation offer in sequence modification ?
Different products can be produced in the same batch
32
Does it require a greater set up time than programmable automation ?
No. The changes happen with minimum loss of time.
33
How does it achieve this in terms of the programming ?
Part programming can be developed offline and transfered through electronic media
34
How is the physical set up changed quickly ?
Using transfer Pallets
35
Which is the highest hardware and software cost ?
Flexible automation
36
How does automation affect productivity ?
It increases the volume and reduces the cost
37
Why ?
Output per unit labour is greater
38
Where does automation win over labour ?
Does not suffer fatigue, boredom or
39
How does automation affect product quality ?
Improves
40
Why ?
There is greater accuracy
41
How does automation provide flexibility in job design ?
It handles complex designs easily
42
How does automation affect lead time ?
It reduces
43
What is lead time ?
A lead time is the latency between the initiation and execution of a process
44
How does automation improve shop efficiency ?
Various activities are evenly distributed
45
How does automation makes up for the initial and running cost ?
It compensates for both initial and running cost with high productivity
46
How does automation improve safety of worker ?
The workers now perform greater supervision work.
47
How does automation affect job openings ?
It reduces
48
How does automation affect employment ?
Causes unemployment
49
How does automation bring down human skill ?
Most of the skilled work is performed by the machine
50
What are some basic strategies employed by automation in industry ?
Specialised, Multiple, Simultaneous, Integrated Operation
51
How does automation perform operations simultaneously ?
Several tools are used to perform operations simultaneously
52
How are integrated operations performed ?
Several work stations are linked to one work station to improve shop efficiency
53
What are some benefits of multiple operations ?
Saves setting-up time and routing time of object.
54
What is routing ?
Selecting the minimum cost/time path for an object to reach it's destination
55
How is the process optimized in automation ?
Monitoring is done online and corrective action is taken immediately
56
What are the three main components of NC System ?
Program of instructions, MCU, Machine tools and tooling
57
What instructions are contained in the program of instructions ?
Step by step instructions for positioning the fabrication tool, controlling the spindle speed and other tools
58
How was input fed in the olden days ?
Through punched papers and tapes
59
What is the modern method ?
CD or main disc drive
60
How is offline work done ?
Seperate CD drives are used
61
What does the MCU mainly consist of ?
It consists of electronics and hardware that read and interpret the program and convert it to command signals for actuating system
62
What is an actuator ?
An actuator is a type of motor that is responsible for moving or controlling a mechanism or system
63
What are the things that MCU controls ?
Path of the tool, cutting speed, feed rate, tool changes
64
What do modern machines use in the MCU ?
Microprocessors
65
What does a machine tool generally consist of ?
Spindle, motor control unit. Cutting tools, Work fixtures and auxiliary units
66
What is an auxiliary unit ?
It is a unit that produces additional help or support to the system
67
What is a spindle ?
It is the rotating axis of the machine.
68
What are the two types of tooling
Qualified and Preset tooling
69
What is a qualified tool ?
It is rough machining which has more tolerance between cutting edges and tool locating faces
70
What is a preset tool ?
It is preset to closer tolerances and needs adjustment for each batch of production
71
Why are NC machines prefered for expensive workpieces ?
Rejection is costly
72
What kind of operations are NC machines prefered for ?
100% inspection, complex part geometry, large number of operations
73
Why do NC machines require lesser down time ?
Setup and handling time reduce
74
What is handling time ?
The handling time is the number of business days the seller will take to ship the item after receiving the cleared payment.
75
What is down time ?
The time during which a machine, especially a computer, is out of action or unavailable for use.
76
How does NC Machine reduce lead time ?
Job is done in batches
77
How does NC machine provide flexibility ?
Job design, work schedule
78
How do part programming errors affect NC machines ?
They lead to poor job configuration.
79
Why do NC machines take a long time to update ?
It is difficult to change hardware
80
What is a major drawback of conventional NC in terms of optimization ?
It cannot optimize feed rate and material removal rate on it's own
81
Why is it difficult to reduce non productive time immediately in NC machines ?
Online information is not available to management to take timely decisions.
82
What kind of environment do NC machines require ?
Air-conditioned
83
How does the NC MCU utilise the part program ?
It is executed block by block.
84
What happens to the program in CNC ?
It is fed to memory and then execution instructions are given.
85
How does it do this ?
A pulse is generated for each movement of machine tool.
86
What are the four basic functions of CNC ?
Machine tool control, In process compensation, operational features, diagnostics
87
What is in process compensation ?
It involves dynamic correction of machine tool motion for changes or errors during processing
88
What are the other reasons adjustment may be needed ?
Due to in process inspection after controller gets feedback, tool life
89
What are some major operational features ?
Online editing, Various interpolation, Graphical display of tool path, Support of various units
90
What is the first step in diagnostics ?
Identify reasons for downtime occurence
91
What is the next step ?
Alert to indicate the failure and have a replacement for less reliable components
92
Why is CNC preferred for material removal ?
It optimizes it and does complex configurations
93
How is metal shaped ?
CNC plasma or laser cutters
94
How are holes punched ?
CNC turret passes
95
How are metal plates bent ?
CNC press brakes are used
96
What is interpolation ?
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method of constructing new data points within the range of a discrete set of known data points
97
What interpolations does NC offer ?
Straight and circular
98
What interpolations does CNC offer
Helical, parabolic and cubical curves also
99
How does digitizing software help ?
The CNC can use optical probes to copy the required shape and then generate a program to fabricate it.
100
How does CNC reduce waste dramatically ?
It optimizes use of material
101
Why does CNC require costlier personnel ?
Higher skill and program literacy required
102
Why do CNC systems require support facility ?
To perform offline programming and data monitoring
103
Why is CNC uneconomical for a singular job ?
The extra time and special personnel are required even for a singular job.
104
How is material removal done using EDM ?
Material is removed from the workpiece by a series of rapidly recurring current discharges between two electrodes, separated by a dielectric liquid and subject to an electric voltage
105
What is a dielectric ?
It is an electrical insulator that can be polarised by the application of an electric field.
