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C00002 00002	   		  VICARM INC. BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
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   		  VICARM INC. BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
			January 19, 1975 
			
	
	Vicarm has  been a corporation  for 20  months.  During  that
time we have  completed preliminary development work on two different
models  of  computer  controlled  manipulators.    Several  of  these
manipulators  have been  manufactured and  are now  out in  the field
being  used and tested by  a few selected customers.   At the present
time 8 more manipulators are being built ( 5 model M.I.T. arms, and 3
model Stanford  arms).  All of  these manipulators have  been sold or
commitmen ).  All but one of  each model have been sold.  The  unsold
models  will  be  retained by  Vicarm  for  use  as  development  and
demonstrator models.  

	The first  arms delivered consisted merely of the manipulator
itself.    But  with  each  succeeding  arm,  more  and  more  system
components have been included.  At the present time we have committed
to  deliver a complete system  execpt for the  computer.  This system
includes a 6 degree of freedom manipulator, a standard  hand, the arm
power   supply  and  driver   electronics,  the   computer  interface
electronics, and the software programs required for basic tasks.   In
short, for  Digital  Equipment Corp.  PDP-11 based  systems, we  have
commited  for delivery everything  but the computer.   As  an OEM, we
could presently also deliver the computer as part of an entire system
at a competitive price. 

	To the present, our customers have been university artificial
intelligence  research  laboratories, commercial  automation research
groups, a  large semiconductor and  calculator manufacturer, a  large
sutomobile manufacturer, and a government research organization.  All
the declared use goals  for our manipulators  have been research  and
experimental  with the  objective  of placing  the  system in  a  use
justifiable task assignment. 

	Because  of the development  nature of  these manipulators at
the present time, Vicarm has  not advertised (other than passing  out
some  literature  at a  couple  of  technical conferences),  nor  has
solicited orders.  All orders have come from word of mouth or through
some personal contact.   In fact, Vicarm  has had to discourage  some
potential  customers   because  of  concern   over  maintainance  and
reliability at this early date. 

	At the present time, Vicarm is concentrating on developing  a
computer controlled  manipulator product  to primarily  serve in  the
following four task areas. 

	1) The Mechanical Assembly Area.  These manipulators would be
used for mechanical component  assembly requiring the performance  of
several different  tasks.  Medium  scale production runs  with little
hard tooling and limited special purpose equipment would be the prime
objective areas.   Typical product areas  are mechanical assembly  of
electronic equipment, and small and  medium size applliance  and tool
assembly. 

	2) The Packaging Area. These arms would be used for  grasping
and locating parts or objects and placing them in boxes or on pallets
for shipping or transfer purposes.  In some cases, with the use of an
arm,  machine  output  can  be  directly  into  a  suitable  shipping
container,  with  some  automated  inspection  performed  during  the
transfer and packaging task. 


	3)   The  Manufacturing  Area.     Much  of  the  specialized
engineering associated  with large  scale production has  to do  with
input  and output and  transfer of  the products between  the various
machines and processes involved.  The  versatile manipulator which is
easily programmed to  perform a new task, can frequently be used as a
substitute for the one  of a kind  special device in applications  of
this sort. 

	4) The Machining Area.   In the N.C. Machine shop, the  human
role is  primarily that of  loading and unloading of  parts, stacking
and  unstacking of parts, and filing and  deburring of parts. In many
cases, all these functions can be performed  by a computer controlled
manipulator.  For  example, the function of picking a  blank off of a
stack, and placing it  at a precise  loaction in an N.C.   Mill is  a
typical task.   Periodic  chip cleaning  operations can be  performed
during  the   machining  task,  as  well  as  part  deburring  before
palletizing the completed part.