Handling arms and industrial robots

Robotics has always been a technique charged with emotional content. Long before it became an industrial and therefore economic reality, it was present in all works of anticipation. Motrobot comes from the Czech robota, meaning chore. Who hasn't dreamed of a machine, ready to replace us in all our chores, with enough intelligence so that we don't have to intervene, and not so much that it can free itself from our control?

In the industrial sector, the approach was not very different. In the 60s and 70s, some managers suffered from pressure from workers over working conditions and wages. The latter could argue that the economy was overheating and that the French were not very attracted to workshop work. The result was the myth of the "manless factory", which had more than one follower. In such a context, two solutions were proposed: the automatic factory, dedicated to a well-defined production, or the robotized factory, more or less ready to carry out any task in a fairly broad field. Numerous dedicated automatic plants have been created, particularly in the chemical industry. Robotic plants were much rarer, as it soon became clear that the flexibility and investment cost of automation followed an exponential curve.

The development of robotics has been influenced by these major trends. From 1970 onwards, there was a veritable explosion in the supply of robotics, and a real craze among manufacturers. But the early 80s did not bring the expected victory. Robotics turned out to be more complex than expected, especially when it came to developing the applications and tools required for them. Above all, the pressure on jobs had disappeared, and with it the inflexibility of employees.

Today, the focus is often on dedicated automation or the human operator, to the detriment of the robot. The latter's development has been severely curtailed. Suppliers have experienced considerable economic difficulties, resulting in consolidation or disappearance. By 1995, there were no longer any independent French manufacturers. All that remains of our national offer is under foreign control. Yet France remains one of the countries where robots are in demand. But perhaps this is due to the relative backwardness of our equipment compared with countries like Japan and Germany.

The paradox is that, while technical difficulties are disappearing and microcomputer developments are pushing back the boundaries of what is possible, robotics is doing poorly. The explanation is economic, and therefore open to change. This is the gamble of all those who continue to be involved in what was, for too short a time, the star of production engineering.

Remember that the load to be moved by a handling arm or robot represents a mass...