Abstract: A main object of the present disclosure is to provide an active material wherein an expansion upon intercalation of a metal ion such as a Li ion is suppressed. The present disclosure achieves the object by providing an active material comprising a silicon clathrate type crystal phase, and the active material includes a Na element, a Si element and a M element that is a metal element with an ion radius larger than the Si element, and a proportion of the M element to a total of the Si element and the M element is 0.1 atm % or more and 5 atm % or less.

Abstract: A main object of the present disclosure is to provide an active material wherein a volume variation due to charge/discharge is small. The present disclosure achieves the object by providing an active material comprising a silicon clathrate II type crystal phase, and having a composition represented by NaxSi136, wherein 1.98<x<2.54.

Abstract: A self-checkout system includes: a checkout device that checks out a product registered by a portable terminal; a camera that captures an image of a scene where a customer attempts to resister the product; a detector that detects a registration failure state where registration of the product is determined to have failed during a period in which the registration of the product according to a single transaction is attempted; and a display that displays, during a period in which the checkout device is checking out the product registered according to the single transaction, the detected registration failure state.

Abstract: There is disclosed a position detection method of a robot which provides two incremental position transducers mounted to a robot axis in interlocked relationship with each other and rotatably to produce pulse signals having the number different from each other in response to a moving distance of the moving robot axis and detects a difference between the numbers of pulses produced from the position transducers to detect the position of the robot. Further, a difference (P.sub.2i) of the pulse number between reference pulses produced from the two position transducers at any position of the moving robot axis is calculated and the pulse number (i) of a next reference pulse from a reference position is then calculated on the basis of i=(P.sub.1 -P.sub.2i)/(P.sub.1 -P.sub.2) where P.sub.1 and P.sub.2 are the numbers of pulses produced during one rotation of the position transducers, respectively, so that P.sub.1 .times.i is calculated to detect a position of the robot axis.

Abstract: A control system of an industrial robot includes an operation program read out from a storage medium and deciphered and calculated to obtain data so that a robot machine is controlled on the basis of the data. An external memory has function of a conventional internal memory and it is limited to store one program in, for example, an IC card constituting the storage medium and the IC card is inserted into the external memory to supply the operation program. A plurality of operation programs are previously stored in, for example, a floppy disk device constituting a recording medium of the external memory and a desired program is selected by a keyboard to directly supply it to the controller of the robot to operate the robot.

Abstract: A control system of an industrial robot includes an operation program read out from a storage medium and stored and calculated to obtain data so that a robot machine is controlled on the basis of the data. An external memory has function of a conventional internal memory and it is limited to store one program in, for example, an IC card constituting the storage medium and the IC card is inserted into the external memory to supply the operation program. A plurality of operation programs are previously stored in, for example, a floppy disk device constituting a recording medium of the external memory and a desired program is selected by a keyboard to directly supply it to the controller of the robot to operate the robot.

Abstract: A balance mechanism of an industrial robot is provided with a first balance mechanism for a first arm which is swingably mounted to a stand of the robot and a second balance mechanism for a second arm which is swingably mounted to a distal end of the first arm. The first balance mechanism includes a flexible coupling device such as, for example, a chain, led through a guide, which couples between a coupling element of a coupling member which is mounted to a center of angular movement of a proximal end of the first arm and a spring having one end fixed to the stand and which is moved in the direction of deformation when the first arm is angularly moved. The second balance mechanism includes a counterbalancer disposed in the opposite side to an operation side of the second arm and a center of angular movement of the second arm constitutes a fulcrum. The balance mechanisms can be applied to the robot without exchanging parts greatly even if the robot is installed in any position.