From Fantasy to Factory Floor
Today’s sophisticated industrial robots embody millennia of imagination and decades of engineering effort. Yamaha charts the beginnings of its robotics journey to the sophisticated technology it is renowned for today.
Intelligent machines that help us do more have existed in fiction for thousands of years. As early as the 8th century BCE, Homer’s Iliad imagined a team of skilled automata[1] as metalworking assistants. In the real world of the 1970s, industrial robots – the name taken from Czech literature[2] – brought superhuman strength, speed, and repeatability to the automotive industry, performing tasks like welding and spraying.
Early industrialisation
During this time, Yamaha had developed its own Computer Aided Manufacturing Equipment (CAME) to support motorcycle production. In contrast to those large welding robots, the machines were small, highly functional, and elegantly designed. In 1981, perceiving a broader role in industry for this CAME concept, Yamaha formed the first incarnation of its Intelligent Machines (IM) division. The founding team of about 50 staff included engineers from the production technology group, as well as newly hired specialists. However, the market for such equipment was unproven at this time and conditions were difficult.
For a while, activities ceased until the arrival of Katsuhiko Tsuchiya, returning to Japan from a posting as head of Yamaha’s California R&D Centre. He reformed the IM division and the team continued to work in a corner of the motorcycle factory. With general market interest in industrial robots continuing to grow, the team took the opportunity to show how their technologies could transform production processes and boost manufacturing productivity at the Tokyo International Robot Exhibition of September 1983.
At this event, visitors from a major electronic equipment manufacturer witnessed the demonstrations presented at the Yamaha IM booth. They got in touch to ask whether the knowhow on display could be used to make a small chip mounter for attaching electronic components to printed circuit boards. This small, high-precision, programmable machine became the forerunner for today’s surface-mount placement machines. Even now, high-speed inline surface mounters are the biggest selling items in the Yamaha Robotics portfolio. Infused with Yamaha’s robot technology, they deliver high speed, accuracy, repeatability, and flexibility, with many innovative automated capabilities that allow sustained fast cycle times with minimal errors; two of the main benefits manufacturers can gain by introducing robots in their activities.
The IM division continued to present new and more advanced concepts at exhibitions worldwide. As technological development continued, the orders taken at these events became more frequent and larger. These early projects included an assembly line for brakes and a photocopier manufacturing system. Since then, the division has delivered more and more robots to support production activities in an increasingly diverse selection of industries.
Industrial robots today
Building on knowledge and technologies developed for those early CAME machines, Industrial robots have evolved to become sophisticated and highly developed cartesian, SCARA, articulated, and collaborative robots. In addition, Yamaha’s LCMR200 modules embody robot technology to deliver high-speed, programmable workpiece transport as a quieter, more robust, reliable, and flexible alternative to conventional conveyors.
The trend towards greater automation continues to grow in factories worldwide, as businesses seek to increase their productivity in all aspects of making, packaging, and handling diverse types of products. Robots are now widely adopted to accelerate process cycle times and minimise errors, while end-to-end automation of complete assembly sequences can improve workflow by enhancing synchronization between the individual processes.
Robots have come a long way since the enthusiastic engineers of Yamaha’s startup IM division began their quest in 1981. Their work has contributed to the development of a globally influential technology, developed and adopted by leading businesses and researchers.
[1]The Iliad, book 18 (https://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.18.xviii.html)
