An industrial robot refers to a widely applicable mechanical device capable of autonomous movement and multi-axis coordinated motion. It may be equipped with sensors when necessary and operates without external human intervention. Usually fitted with manipulators, cutting tools or other attachable processing tools, it can perform handling, processing and manufacturing tasks. At present, industrial robots have been widely adopted in modern manufacturing sectors including automobiles, electronics and information products.
“In industrial production, there are many monotonous, mechanical, frequent, repetitive and long-duration operations, which can be fully automated by robots instead of manual labour,” Cao Xiangkang, one of the pioneers of China’s robotics industry and former Director of the Robotics Division of Beijing Institute of Machinery Industry Automation, told reporters.
Robots are especially needed for operations in hazardous and harsh environments, such as stamping, pressure casting, heat treatment, welding, painting, plastic forming, machining and simple assembly, as well as in the atomic energy industry for handling hazardous materials or implementing technical processes.
“Besides, certain operations demand high precision, such as arc welding and blade manufacturing. Human operation inevitably produces errors. Therefore, to guarantee product quality and reliability, computer-controlled industrial robots are required to meet high-precision and high-quality process requirements,” said Cao Xiangkang.
Back in the 1970s, technicians at factories in Shanghai, Northeast China and other regions independently developed manipulators. Examples include the stamping manipulator for automobile lamp housings developed by Shanghai No.2 Auto Parts Factory and the loading/unloading manipulator for forgings made by Tianjin Metalforming Machinery Factory. These became China’s first batch of industrial robots.
In 1985, industrial robots were officially listed as a key research focus under the national Seventh Five-Year Key Technologies R&D Program. The research targeted five areas: basic technologies and core component development for industrial robots, and the R&D of handling, spraying and welding robots. With strong support from former State Planning Commission, former Ministry of Machinery Industry and other authorities, multiple domestic research institutions and academies launched robot research and development.
At the end of 1986, Document No.24 of the CPC Central Committee identified intelligent robots as one of the two major themes in the automation field of the National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program). Its primary goal was to “keep track of the world’s advanced standards and develop special robots working in extreme environments such as underwater robots”.
In 1990, the PJ-1 industrial painting robot developed by Beijing Institute of Machinery Industry Automation was completed as scheduled. It was China’s first painting robot. Meanwhile, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the predecessor of SIASUN Robot, finished the R&D of welding robots. Commercial prototypes of various industrial robots were deployed at FAW, Dongfeng Motor and Nanjing Automobile Works to build demonstration application sites including automatic painting production lines, cab welding lines and arc welding workstations.
