A Manufacturing Language
A Manufacturing Language (AML) is a robot programming language created by IBM in the 1970s and 80s, for its RS 1 robot and other robots in its Robot Manufacturing System product line.[3][4] The systems were used in factory automation by customers such as Plessey and Northern Telecom.[5] They are no longer listed as available from IBM, but robots and parts can occasionally be found in used condition on auction sites, and are refurbished by hobbyists.[6]
| Paradigm | Imperative (procedural) |
|---|---|
| Designed by | Russell H. Taylor |
| First appeared | 1978 |
| Major implementations | |
| AML, AML/2, AML/E, AML/V, AML/X | |
| Influenced by | |
| ALGOL 68, SAIL, AL[1][2] | |
AML/2, AML/E, AML/V, and AML/X are versions and derivatives of AML.[7]
AML programs can call subroutines written in AML, C, or FORTRAN. Programs are coded off-line, and can be tested with an off-line simulator. Prior to execution on the robot, they are uploaded to RAM residing in the robot's control unit.[8]
Source Code Example
The following example shows code for a peg-in-hole program.[9] <syntaxhighlight lang="yaml"> PICKUP: SUBR (PART__DATA, TRIES);
MOVE(GRIPPER, DIAMETER(PART__DATA)+0.2); MOVE(<1,2,3>, XYZ__POSITION(PART__DATA)+<0,0,1>); TRY__PICKUP(PART__DATA, TRIES); END;
TRY__PICKUP: SUBR(PART__DATA, TRIES);
IF TRIES LT 1 THEN RETURN('NO PART');
DMOVE(3,-1.0);
IF GRASP(DIAMETER(PART__DATA)) = 'NO PART'
THEN TRY__PICKUP(PART__DATA, TRIES - 1);
END;
GRASP: SUBR(DIAMETER, F);
FMONS: NEW APPLY($ MONITOR, PINCH__FORCE(F));
MOVE(GRIPPER, 0, FMONS);
RETURN( IF QPOSITION(GRIPPER) LE DIAMETER/2
THEN 'NO PART'
ELSE 'PART' );
END;
INSERT: SUBR(PART__DATA, HOLE);
FMONS: NEW APPLY($ MONITOR, TIP__FORCE(LANDING__FORCE));
MOVE(<1,2,3>, HOLE+<O,O,.25>);
DMOVE(3, -1.0, FMONS);
IF QMONITOR(FMONS) = 1
THEN RETURN('NO HOLE');
MOVE(3, HOLE(3) + PART__LENGTH(PART__DATA));
END;
PART__IN__HOLE: SUBR(PART__DATA, HOLE);
(PICKUP PART__DATA 2.); (INSERT PART__DATA HOLE); END;
</syntaxhighlight>
References
- ^ Taylor, R. H. "Russell H. Taylor - Early Research", faculty web page at Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved on 6 July 2019.
- ^ Taylor, R. H. "A Synthesis of Manipulator Control Programs From Task-Level Specifications", Stanford A.I. Laboratory (sponsored by Advanced Research Projects Agency, Dept. of Defense, National Science Foundation), Memo AIM-282, July, 1976.
- ^ IBM. "IBM robotics: tools for advanced manufacturing", IBM Archives, London, 27 October 2005. Retrieved on 11 June 2019.
- ^ IBM Watson Research Center. "Artificial Intelligence (subdiscipline)", section IBM RS 1 Robotic system (1980s), updated on 9 November 2017. Retrieved on 11 June 2019.
- ^ Richard C. Dorf, Shimon Y. Nof, editors. "International Encyclopedia of Robotics: Applications and Automation", Vol. 1., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1988, pp. 216, 219.
- ^ sliptonic. "IBM 7575 Scara robot working at last", YouTube, 9 April 2018. Retrieved on 11 June 2019.
- ^ R.H. Taylor, P.D. Summers, J.M. Meyer. "AML: A Manufacturing Language", The International Journal of Robotics Research, 1(3), 19–41, 1 September 1982. Retrieved on 11 June 2019.
- ^ Korein, J. U., Maier, G. E., et al. "A configurable system for automation programming and control", in IEEE Conf. on Robotics and Automation, San Francisco, April, 1986. pp. 1871-1877.
- ^ Lozano-Pérez, Tomás. "Robot Programming", Massachusetts Institute of Technology A.I. Laboratory (for the Advanced Research Projects Agency, Office of Naval Research), A.I. Memo No. 698, December, 1982, p. 33.
External links
- "IBM robotics: tools for advanced manufacturing", in the "Exhibits" section at "IBM Archives".