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Texas Instruments The Future of Robotics | 7 How will the different subsystems of the robot communicate with each other? What are the interface requirements? To ensure real-time functionality, you will need to define which control parameters pass between the subsystems, and the repetition rate and latency of the parameters for both the end effector and manipulator communication. Figure 4 includes some typical real-time timing values for a robot. Now that the robot can move, it needs to know how to proceed, which leads to the next series of questions. How does the programming interface work? Will the robot operate from the user interface or through task programming? Will you need an additional interface to connect the teaching pendant or joystick to enable operator functionality? It's essential to answer these questions early in the design process. Figure 4 also includes some of the design considerations of motion-control timing. And now, for the final question. Is the robot a nonadaptive robot or an adaptive robot? A nonadaptive robot does not receive feedback from the environment and will execute its task as programmed. Adaptive robots use input and output data to generate environment data. With this data, the robot can react to environmental changes and stop its task if necessary. For adaptive robots, it is crucial to define the environment data to which the robot is reacting. The data might be pre-defined parameters, such as material amounts or sizes or shapes for quality definitions. Or it might be uncontrolled parameters, such as having people move around the robot or malfunctions that, when detected, put the robot in a safe state. An adaptive robot requires a sensing module. An area safety scanner or safety skin is placed either at the base of the robot or attached somewhere on top of the robot. It supervises the surrounding area of the manipulator and prevents humans or other machines from getting too close to the robot; if they do, the robot stops or slows. You should follow both worldwide and local safety standards when designing robotic systems. Starting the design efforts before looking into relevant standards can considerably delay time to market. Several organizations offer consulting services to help you understand the hardware implications of designing a safe system according to safety standards, including Technischer Überwachungsverein (TÜV)–Rheinland, TÜV–Süd, and TÜV–Nord. Conclusion A robot is a very complex system with many design challenges within mechatronics and functionality, as well as electrical considerations. You'll need to solve these challenges or make some decisions before a working system is possible. With all of the different technical aspects of a robotic system, analog and embedded technologies from Texas Instruments offers many other products and designs that can help solve robot-related issues and enable the development of intelligent, autonomous, and collaborative robots. ■ Figure 4: Real-time communication timing needs for robot control. (Source: Texas Instruments)