Interoperability of standards for robotics in CIME
A report on ESPRIT project 6457 - Interoperability of Robotics in CIME (InterRob) - has been published. The report provides an overview of the results and achievements of the InterRob project, allowing readers a valuable insight into the research conducted. The InterRob project belongs to the "Integration in Manufacturing" domain of the Community's ESPRIT programme. Its first main goal was to close the information chain between product design, simulation, programming and robot control by developing standardized interfaces and their software implementation for the STEP (International Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data, ISO 10303) and IRL (Industrial Robot Language, DIN 66312) standards. In this, it represented a continuation of the previous ESPRIT projects CAD-I and NIRO, which developed the substantial basics of STEP. The second main goal of the project was to increase the accuracy of off-line programmed robots by improving the conformance of robot simulation with the real world, and by on-line adjustments in robot control to modify actual positions and speed of the robot tool. In industrial application it was demonstrated that complete off-line programming will significantly shorten production preparation and will increase product quality, as well as productivity and return on investment for expensive installations.