Joe Jorge

Professor Delamare

Writing for Engineers

April 30th 2020

 

Rhetorical Analysis of the mechanics and robotics report “Programming of Industrial Robots Using Virtual Reality and Digital Twins”

 

Technological innovation has always been an exciting topic that I have wanted to learn more about. Being someone who plays video games, virtual reality has cemented itself in my mind as something that I want to experience. Ultimately, these reasons have led me to want to learn more about things such as artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality systems and this research paper is something that combines these things into one. The purpose for this rhetorical analysis is to analyze the different strategies and how the authors wrote their paper. Also, the overall goal of the research paper is acknowledged in the abstract.

 

In the research paper mentioned before, they speak fairly simple yet sophisticated, causing for the reader to not need a certain amount of knowledge on the topic to understand what is going on. Another thing the authors do well is go into detail about what each of the components they are discussing accomplishes and the basic definitions of things such as virtual reality and digital twins. While they use abbreviated terms here and there the overall language of the research paper is very much understandable to the average reader. These components show that the targeted audiences for this research paper are people who work in the applied mechanics and robotics field, as well as the average person with an understanding and curiosity about virtual reality and related topics. This paper was published by the Department of Applied Mechanics and Robotics on January 9th, 2020.

 

This research paper includes 6 authors. These authors’ names are: Andrzej Burghardt, Dariusz Szybicki, Piotr Gierlak, Krzysztof Kurc, Paulina Pietrus , and Rafał Cygan. They are all faculty of the Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics department at the Rzeszow University of Technology located in Poland. Being so familiar with the technological field, it makes sense that these 6 people would come together to create a concise and detailed research paper about an up and coming technological topic and putting their own innovative touch onto it. The departments these authors are in focus on things such as automation and robotics, as well as mechanical engineering and manufacturing. There is definitely plenty of technological knowledge spread across all six authors, which leads to a more refined research paper that is clearer and more detailed than one written by one or two authors.

 

            With there always being a need for technology and the world making bigger technological advancements everyday, there is no real urgency for the programming of industrial robots. Virtual reality and digital twins are extremely useful and over the years have become more popular in wider areas of engineering, including robotics. While eventually robots will probably take over the industrial work, there is no need to rush research and race for something like this. Taking the time to completely master the idea of programming robots so when they do eventually come, they are flawless and safe and optimal. All of this paired with the challenges of the collaboration between humans and robots, cause for something that should definitely not be rushed to ensure the best and long term results.

The research paper is very similar to the IMRaD format. Both the paper and IMRaD include an introduction, which in this case goes into detail about the different processes and systems associated with virtual reality and digital twins. Also there is a method that yields results and is explained in a clear and sophisticated way. At the end there are of course discussions, for example describing restrictions that were noted during the programming of the robotic station. The big difference between the research paper and IMRad, is the abstract at the beginning of the research paper. The abstract is an important part as it explains the overall purpose of what is being written about, as well as other components like the design of the study and trends. The research paper does include an abstract that does a good job of explaining the job of the digital twin and the virtual reality system, as well as what these systems are used for. They explain that these would be used when there are situations and the robot needs to reproduce the movements of a human that are considered difficult from a robotization standpoint (Burghardt et al., 2020).

           

This paper definitely appeals to logos, as it presents lots of information through the figures and diagrams, as well as provide a logical way of going about programming robots using virtual reality and digital twins. This research paper includes plenty of figures and images to help the reader understand the text much better. For example, in figure 2 they provide an in depth diagram of the virtual reality system through an image of a pc and the most popular virtual reality device, the oculus rift. In the figure they go through each component from the actual pc, to the sensors and controllers, and the oculus rift goggles explaining in detail underneath. They continue with the in depth figures and explanations with components such as the casting moulds in digital twins and the “Schematic diagram of the building and programming of a robotic station using a VR system”(Burghardt et al., 6). They even include a labeled list of steps of the diagram mentioned before that adds further detail and understanding. These extra bits they add in to clarify their language gives the reader a much better understanding of the topics whether they have prior knowledge or not. This paper also shows signs of ethos as well because since all authors are well respected faculty members of a knowledgeable technological department at a university, they are very much credible. The authors also explain the importance of what they are trying to do and specifically the robot programming methods. They explain that these methods speed up the programming time of robotic production, which is a necessary step and act as a source of savings for businesses. They also explain the critical role digital twins, as well as virtual reality can play in the effectiveness of industrial robotics. I do not believe that in this research paper they attempt to exhibit pathos, as since this is a research paper, I believe they are simply trying to give plenty of information on the topic.

 

Overall, this research paper has taught me that a strong research paper’s language is all determined by the audience, specifically the research paper has simple, but informative and intelligent language which means it can reach a wide range of people. I also learned that the use of figures and models and diagrams adds so much more in terms of information and clarity in what a person is trying to convey. The paper is an effective way of learning about the uses and aspects of digital twins and the virtual reality system, is very informative, and is an important segway into the future of industrial robots.

 

 

 

 

References:

Burghardt, A., Szybicki, D., Gierlak, P., Kurc, K., Pietruś, P., & Cygan, R. (2020). Programming of Industrial Robots Using Virtual Reality and Digital Twins. Applied Sciences (2076-3417), 10(2), 1–12. https://doi-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.3390/app10020486