ABSTRACT
This chapter describes remote-control units, often called teach pendants, for the application programming of data and commands for industrial robots. Such devices are also used at times by maintenance personnel and robot operators. The generic term ‘Remote Control Unit’ (RCU) means that this class of devices is found also in other contexts. They are small, hand-held control/display panels manipulated at some modest distance from a computer with which they communicate by cable or radio and which in turn controls some equipment. A familiar but simpler example is a ‘remote’ television station selector. The robotic RCU is connected to a robot’s controller, which houses a small computer and generally has an associated terminal with a monitor and keyboard. This equipment is stationed outside the robot’s work envelope and any protective barrier or delineation defining it, whereas the RCU is mostly carried and used within that perimeter.
