Basic Robotics

With no previous experience required, BASIC ROBOTICS walks readers step by step through the fundamentals of the industrial robot system. It begins with an exploration of the fascinating technological history that led to the modern robot, starting with events from Before the Common Era and ending with a glimpse of what the robots of tomorrow might become. From there the book explores safety, various parts of the robot, tooling, power transmission systems, the basics of programming, troubleshooting, maintenance, and much more. Engaging photos highlight various robotic systems and their parts, while stories of real-world events bring text concepts to life. This innovative First Edition incorporates many of the initiatives of STEM and is the culmination of lessons learned from the author's years of teaching robotics in various formats--from the traditional classroom to the industrial production floor with systems ranging from the LEGO Mindstorms NXT to the FANUC robot.

Keith E. Dinwiddie is the Technical Education Extension Specialist/Instructor at Ozarks Technical Community College where he has been teaching industrial maintenance and robotics classes full time since fall 2007. Previously, he worked in industry as an industrial maintenance technician while teaching as an adjunct instructor. He also has prior military experience maintaining Huey helicopters. A FANUC Certified Education Robot Training (CERT) instructor for both programming and vision systems, Dinwiddie has experience with various robotic systems, including Panasonic, Mitsubishi, NAO, LEGO Mindstorms NXT and hobby robotic systems.