外文翻译--计算机与工业机器人.doc

Computer and Industrial Robots There are a variety of definitions of the term robot．Depending on the definition used，the number of robot installations worldwide varies widely．Numerous single-purpose machines are used in manufacturing plants that might appear to be robots．These machines are hardwired to perform a single function and cannot be repogrammed to perform a different function． Such single-purpose machines do not fit the definition for industrial robots that is becoming widely accepted．This definition was developer) by the Robot Institute of America： A robot is a reprogrammable multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts，tools，or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks． Note that this definition contains the words repmuammable is these two characteristics that separate the true industrial robot from the various single-purpose machines used in modern manufacturing firms．The term reprogrammable implies two things：The robot operates according to a written program，and this program can be rewritten to accommodate a variety of manufacturing tasks． The term“multifunctional” means that the robot can，through reprogramming and the use of different end-effectors，perform a number of different manufacturing tasks ．Definitions written around these two critical characteristics.becoming the accepted definitions among manufacturing professionals． The first articulated arm came about in 1951 and was used by the U．S. Atomic Energy Commission．In 1954，the first programmable robot was designed by George Devol .It was based on two important technologies: （1）Numerical control（NC) technology． （2) Remote manipulator technology． Numerical control technology provided a form of machine control ideally suited to robots ．It allowed for the control of motion by stored programs.These programs contain data points to which the robot sequentially moves，timing signals to initiate action an