Industrial Robot: Volume 24 Issue 5

UK Robotics ‐ lost and found

Mike Wilson

Reports on a study organized by leading robotics organizations and sponsored by the DTI to review various sectors where the UK can develop a world‐class industry, namely…

A record year for UK robot installations

Brian Rooks

The British Association for Robotics and Automation (BRA) has announced the 1996 statistics on the installation of robots in the UK. The report reveals that it was a record year…

Robot windrower is first unmanned harvester

Kerien Fitzpatrick, David Pahnos, Walter V. Pype

Explains that the first robotics commercialization project of the National Robotics Engineering Consortium (USA) is Demeter, the first unmanned, fully automated windrower…

Adaptive welding for shipyards

C.R. Ferguson, Kline

Reports on an aggressive project to develop an advanced, automated welding system, being completed at Babcock & Wilcox, CIM Systems. This system, the programmable automated…

Mechanicals look to the future

Jack Hollingum

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers celebrated its 150th anniversary in a symposium on 7‐8 July at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. Its theme was “Visions…

Automating agricultural vehicles

Victor Callaghan, Paul Chernett, Martin Colley, Tony Lawson, John Standeven, Malcolm Carr‐West, Malcolm Ragget

Describes the design and construction of TROWEL ‐ a test bed for experimental agricultural vehicles. The vehicle will be used to explore ways of increasing the productivity of…

Tracminer: traction‐enhancing mining equipment accessory

Manuel Armada, Mario Maza, Jean‐Guy Fontaine, Pablo Gonzalez de Santos, Vasilios Papantoniou

Explains how the Tracminer project aimed to provide a robust, low cost device to be mounted as an accessory on the motorized wheels of traction machines, in order to increase grip…

Robotization of coal harvesting in open cut lignite mines

M. Yousef Ibrahim, C. Barfoot

Presents a summary of research which is currently being conducted at Monash University ‐ Gippsland Campus. The research aims at the automation of coal harvesting at a major…