It was assumed that the work environment of the
robot is the closed frame of a building erected by
industrialized methods. The reason for this is the
higher accuracy achieved by industrialized methods,
which are a precondition for robotized work. It was
also assumed that due to its expected size, the robot
will be mainly operating in large halls. The halls will
either be open spaces within the exterior walls, or
they will include interior columns. In any case,
partitions will preferably be erected after the tiling
task has been completed. Such partitions, drywall for
example, are very common today and have additional
advantages such as flexibility in design, ease
of effecting changes in the interior layout during the
life cycle of the building, etc.
As presented in Ref. w8x, SHAMIR’s concept was
based on two modules, ‘‘work’’ and ‘‘mobility’’.
The latter module serves all tasks and includes an
independent power supply unit, a propulsion unit,
and the main controller. The work module includes
the robot’s arm if any., the end effectors., the
sensors, and the material supply system. The work
module is task-specific, either for one task, or for a
number of them, differing mainly in the required end
effector, control algorithms, and sensors.
The combined weights of both modules must not
exceed 400–600 kg, so that the floor, which is
designed for limited live loads, is able to bear them
without having to be specially strengthened, or without
recourse to additional reinforcement, or extra
support. The maximal measurements of both modules
together must not exceed 0.7=1.0 m and a
height of 1.8 m, so that, if the robot has to move
through doors from one hall to another, it can do so
without a change in the accepted measurements of
doors.
The robot must be able to operate in an autonomous
mode while at a workstation. Its movement
between workstations and some preparatory
and completion tasks, on the other hand, can be done
by or with the assistance of. its operator. The
requirement for autonomy at a workstation demands
that it has to lay the tiles in straight lines with
uniform distances between neighboring tiles, and that
it has to check that the tiles are not defective. In
order to do so, the robot must neither have recourse
to spacers, as is done in the manual work, nor rely
on operator involvement.