Today's manufacturers in numerous industries are gaining rapid increases in productivity by taking advantage of automation technologies. One of these automation technologies, robotics, is a key factor leading the way in the twenty-first century. Firmly established as a critical manufacturing technology, robotics is gaining acceptance by the workforce, garnering praise for its reliability, and being utilized more extensively in medium and small companies.

As manufacturing assembly has grown increasingly complex, the need for new and expanded capabilities, particularly in automated assembly systems, has become evident. As components get smaller, as in micro-manufacturing, it is required that greater precision, more flexibility and higher throughput are achieved. Manual assembly no longer suffices for a great many of manufacturing's current requirements. Functions formerly performed by humans, especially difficult, dangerous, monotonous, or tedious tasks, are now often assumed by robots or other mechanical devices that can be operated by humans or computers...