FIGURE 101.5 The spherical configuration. (Source: T. Owen, Assembly with Robots, Englewood Cliffs, N J. Prentice-Hall 1985. With permission. FIGURE 101.6 Spherical robot work envelope. Spherical robots are typically heavy-duty robots. They have the advan- tages of high speed due to the rotary base, and a large work volume, but are more kinematically complex than either Cartesian or cylindrical robots. Generally, they are used for heavy-duty tasks in, for example, automobile manufacturing. They do not have the dexterity to reach around obstacles in the workspace. Spherical robots also do not have fixed resolution throughout the workspace. Articulated Configuration The articulated (or anthropomorphic, jointed, arm-and-elbow)configu- ration consists of three revolute joints(RRR), as shown in Fig. 101.7. The FIGURE 101.7 The articulated system. a slice of a typical work envelope for an articulated robot is shown figuration. Source: T. Owen in Fig. 101.8. The articulated robot is currently the most commonly used in research. Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1985.With It has several advantages over other configurations. It is closest to dupli- permission. ting the motions of a human assembler, so there should be less need to redesign an existing workstation to utilize an articulated robot. It has a very large, dexterous work envelope; i.e., it can reach most points in its work envelope from a variety of orientations. Thus, it can more easily reach around or over obstacles in the workspace or into parts or machines. Because all the joints are revolute, high c 2000 by CRC Press LLC© 2000 by CRC Press LLC Spherical robots are typically heavy-duty robots. They have the advan￾tages of high speed due to the rotary base, and a large work volume, but are more kinematically complex than either Cartesian or cylindrical robots. Generally, they are used for heavy-duty tasks in, for example, automobile manufacturing. They do not have the dexterity to reach around obstacles in the workspace. Spherical robots also do not have fixed resolution throughout the workspace. Articulated Configuration The articulated (or anthropomorphic, jointed, arm-and-elbow) configu￾ration consists of three revolute joints (RRR), as shown in Fig. 101.7. The resulting joint coordinates do not directly match any standard coordinate system. A slice of a typical work envelope for an articulated robot is shown in Fig. 101.8. The articulated robot is currently the most commonly used in research. It has several advantages over other configurations. It is closest to dupli￾cating the motions of a human assembler, so there should be less need to redesign an existing workstation to utilize an articulated robot. It has a very large, dexterous work envelope; i.e., it can reach most points in its work envelope from a variety of orientations. Thus, it can more easily reach around or over obstacles in the workspace or into parts or machines. Because all the joints are revolute, high FIGURE 101.5 The spherical configuration. (Source: T. Owen, Assembly with Robots, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1985. With permission.) FIGURE 101.6 Spherical robot work envelope. Z max Ymax Ymin Z min Xmax Xmin 0˚ FIGURE 101.7 The articulated configuration. (Source: T. Owen, Assembly with Robots, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1985. With permission.)