Robots Move in

Imagine the real working conditions for a human operator by, for example, transfer of a hot formed glass-tube, removal of hot metal die castings or plastics injection. The environmental temperature is above 50°C and the melting furnaces produce direct and reflexive heat radiation. This kind of job is very difficult, exhausting, monotonous and unpleasant. In the case of machining radioactive or toxic material the work becomes highly dangerous for a man's life.

The necessity of some form of automated handling processes became obvious. So robots appeared on the scene with their high safety and reliability level.

We are now surrounded by robots, big ones, little ones, and medium-sized ones. They serve us in thousands of ways every day.

You can find robots practically anywhere you look. In factories there are giant robots. They pick up great amounts of raw materials and pass them to other, robots which press, stamp and shape the raw material into a wide variety of things. Robot usage has been expanding for industrial spraying, hot handling, assembly, welding, etc.

According to available data, our industry receives annually thousands of robots of different types and purposes. Today, robotic systems, lines and modules are already operating at the leading plants of the motor, electrical engineering, machine-tool industries.

Robotics is just beginning to make inroads in industrial production worldwide. It is not a simple process; the experts themselves are yet to clear up many questions. But everyone agrees even now that the robot by itself does nothing – it must be constructively designed together with the machine tools it is to operate and must be logically incorporated within the system of machines, machine tools and other units.

The problem is not to design individual robots but robotical complexes, flexible and automated production systems that are easily modifiable for the manufacture of ever new kinds of products. Single-handed, even the "cleverest" and most skilful robot is not yet a soldier in the field. Even many robots are not effective piecemeal, unless they are united into a technological chain. Specialized enterprises are reoriented from the production of industrial robots by piece, toward the manufacture of complete systems and robotized complex instruments with the assessment of their performance by the end result the quality and volume of the produce made with their assistance.

This task is presently being tackled by our industry and economy. As to robotization, the utmost economic and social effect will be brought about by systems capable of taking over all the routine stages of designing, design support and the production of output.

Robots release workers from monotonous and very hard work, requiring no skilled labour, in hot shops and in production with hazardous working conditions.

Vocabulary Notes

working conditions — умови праці

human-operator — людина-оператор

environmental temperature [In'aIqrqnmqntl] — температура оточуючого середовища

plastics injection [In'dZekS(q)n] — вдування пластмаси

reliability level [I"laIqbIqtI] — рівень надійності

to pick up — підбирати

a wide variety (of things) — широка різноманітність (речей)

industrial spraying — промислове розпилення

hot handling — термообробка

to make inroads (in) ['InrqVdz] — втручатися (в)

to clear up — з'ясувати

robot by itself ['rqVbPt] — робот сам по собі

robotical complex — роботизований комплекс

flexible and automated production systems — гнучкі та автоматизовані виробничі системи

single-handed robot — одноцільовий робот

piecemeal = by piece ['pJsmJl] — частинами, частково

assessment of their performance [q'sesmqnt] — оцінка їх роботи

design support —конструкторське забезпечення

hazardous working conditions ['hxzqdqs] — ризиковані (небезпечні)умови праці

to bring about —здійснювати

to take over —передавати (обов’язки, позиції тощо)