Next Generation of Industrial Robots – Applications and Technology
Torgny Brogård, ABB
Abstract. Today one million industrial robots are operational world-wide and most of these are used for the manufacturing of motor vehicles and automotive parts. In 2007 the shipment of robots increased only by 3% and it is easy to understand that the robot manufacturers look for new markets for their products. However, the technology of industrial robots has to large extent been developed for the automotive industry, which makes it difficult for the robot manufacturers to shift to applications where more flexibility and closer human-robot interaction are needed. In the presentation some examples will be given of important future applications for industrial robots and the R&D needed to make robot automation affordable for these applications.
Biography. Torgny Brogårdh is Corporate Executive Engineer at ABB. He got his Doctor of Technology degree in Instrumentation Technology at the University of Lund and after different positions at the former ASEA Central Research Laboratory and an assistant professorship at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm he joined ABB Robotics in 1986. His R&D at ABB Robotics includes robot motion control, mechatronics, parallel kinematics and robot applications. In 1998 he got the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering gold medal for his contributions to the robotics development at ABB.