Manufacturing automation is an exciting field, and there is perhaps nothing more fascinating than industrial robotics. You can achieve basic proficiency by taking just one class at GRCC.
Why Robots in Manufacturing
“A robot’s job is to perform repetitive tasks in a consistent way,” said Patrick Van Otteren, Assistant Professor. “This eliminates human error, which improves quality control. It also can eliminate costly injuries due to repetitive strain. Rather than doing monotonous, potentially harmful work, why not learn to program a robot to do it for you?”
While many different brands of robots are used in manufacturing automation, FANUC is one of the premier choices and is a great system to learn. Once you learn to program and operate a FANUC robot, you will be able to translate those skills to other technology brands.
What’s involved in programming a robot?
“You have to think about each task as a series of steps in three dimensions,” Van Otteren said. “First the arm moves to a specific point. Then it performs a function, such as inserting a screw or grabbing a part. Then it moves to another position and does something else. If you can break a task down into repeatable steps, you can program a robot to do them.”
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