When you are working with any industrial machinery, safety is a prime concern. Although the number of injury cases is generally low, this can only be because we continue to prioritize safety so highly.

Collaborative robots (aka cobots) are a specific type of robot that has become more popular in the past 10-15 years. Cobots hold the promise that they are inherently safe… but is this true?

There are a few things you need to know about collaborative robot safety before you can safely start to use cobots in your business…

Do Collaborative Robots Need a Safety Fence?

The much-advertised benefit of collaborative robots is that they don’t require a safety fence.

Robot safety fences can be a nuisance. They are large, bulky, awkward to install, and steal a lot of valuable real estate from your facility floor. As a result, it would be great if you could dispense with safety fences completely and just use the robot without one.

But, can cobots really operate without a safety fence?

The basic answer is… yes.

Cobots can operate without a safety fence, but only in specific situations.

It’s not true that you can dispense with fences completely with cobots. There are plenty of applications that require extra safety measures no matter what type of robot you are using. Even if you don’t need a fence, you might need extra safety sensors to ensure your robot meets the required safety standards for your application.

The Important Collaborative Robot Safety Standards

What safety standards do you need to become familiar with when you are using collaborative robots?

There is one main international standard for cobots. Then, there will be country-specific guidelines and recommendations depending on where you are in the world.

ISO/TS 15066 — Collaborative Robots

The main standard that you need to know about collaborative robotics is ISO/TS 15066. This standard was first released in 2016 by the International Standards Organization (ISO).

It specifies the safety requirements for collaborative industrial robot systems and guidance on the safe operation of cobots. A robot that has been manufactured in accordance with this standard will include specific features to aid safety, such as integrated safety sensing, speed limits, and force limits.

Country-specific Robotic Safety Guidelines

As well as cobot safety standards, your robotic applications will also need to adhere to your country’s specific guidelines for working with robotic equipment.

These guidelines are unlikely to address collaborative robots directly (although they might) but they will give you actionable advice on how to ensure your robot application is safe.

For example, in the United States of America, there are two sets of guidelines that are relevant

• NIOSH Guidelines for Robot Safety — These are published by the research agency National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
• OSHA Robot Safety Guidelines — These are the legal requirements for workplace safety in the USA, published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

5 Questions to Determine If you Need a Robot Safety Fence

A key decision you will make when deploying a new robot to your facility is whether you should add a safety fence or safety sensors.

With conventional industrial robots, the answer is almost certainly — Yes. There are very few applications where non-collaborative robots are safe without a fence or sensors. With collaborative robots, you will need to ask yourself a few questions to determine if you need safety fences or sensors.

Some useful questions are:

• Is the robot holding a dangerous object? Even cobots can’t be safe around humans if they are holding a dangerous object. For example, if the cobot is manipulating heavy items that could easily fall and hurt someone, or if the item is sharp, or chemically dangerous, it will likely require extra safety measures.

• Is it moving faster than the safe speed? Cobots have a designated safety speed limit. This is why they often seem to move slowly. You can surpass this speed limit to improve task performance, but a safety fence will likely be required.

• Could items slip or move in its grasp? If the robot is manipulating items that could slip and fall, this is a sign of potential danger. The level of risk will depend on the type of object that is being manipulated.

• Is there a dangerous end effector? It’s possible to use collaborative robots for more dangerous process tasks, like welding or painting. In this case, the end effector itself is a hazard so safety measures are required.

• Have you done a risk assessment? All robot applications require a risk assessment, whether they are collaborative robots or not. With cobots, this is especially important as the assessment will help you determine whether measures like a safety fence are needed.

How to Conduct the Design and Deployment for Cobot Safety

When is the best time to start thinking about cobot safety?

The basic answer is… as soon as possible. Even before you purchase a cobot, you should be thinking about the safety implications of your specific application.

If it turns out that your task requires a safety fence, it could suggest that other types of robots are also suitable. Similarly, by considering a cobot rather than another industrial robot, you may find that you don’t need a safety fence.

There are two main phases where cobot safety is useful to think about:

• Design — In the design phase, you will want to assess the task for any potential risks. You can try out different robots and configurations in a robot simulator to identify the causes of any risks and mitigation strategies.

• Deployment — During the deployment itself, you will want to recheck the risk assessment that you performed during the design phase and identify if anything needs to be changed or updated.

Maybe you will need a safety fence or maybe not. The only way to find out is to be conscious of safety issues throughout the design and deployment of your robot cell.

When you identify potential cobot safety issues early, you can mitigate them without it impacting the productivity of your robot.

What aspects of cobot safety concern you? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post What You Need to Know About Collaborative Robot Safety appeared first on RoboDK blog.

Electronic product testing is a bottleneck for many companies. Testing is a vital step to ensure product quality but it also takes a lot of time. As a non-value-added task, this can make it difficult to improve.

Achieving efficient testing is a challenge for many electronics manufacturers.

As the EETimes reported some years ago “unless the verification bottleneck is solved, the cost of future electronic systems is going to skyrocket.” While the article was referring specifically to System-on-Chip (SoC) verification, this bottleneck is still present across the electronics industry.

Robots can be a very effective method to achieve a more efficient product testing process.

Robots Aren’t Just for Manufacturing Tasks

You might assume that robots are best in manufacturing tasks.

It’s certainly true that robots are often used for process tasks in electronics manufacturing. Tasks like circuit board assembly, soldering, and glue dispensing are increasingly performed by robots in the industry.

However, just because robots are traditionally used for manufacturing doesn’t mean they aren’t suited to other types of tasks.

Robotic product testing is still quite uncommon in the electronics industry. But, it can be a very beneficial task for companies looking to increase the overall productivity of their facilities.

5 Types of Product Testing Suitable for Robots

There are, of course, many different types of product testing. Your specific processes may or may not be possible to automate with a robot.

Here are 5 types of product testing processes that robots can automate:

1. Functional Testing of Buttons and Touchscreens

Unlike other forms of testing, robots can closely mimic human actions. This makes them perfect for functional testing of physical user interface elements, like buttons or touchscreens.

For example, you can add a touchscreen pen to the robot and it will operate the screen as a human would.

2. Stress Testing of Electronic Casings

Electronic products that are designed to be rugged and hard-wearing need to undergo stress testing.

Robots can mimic the types of stress the device will experience in real life which makes them perfect for this type of testing.

3. Machine Tending of Product Testing Machines

Of course, many dedicated product testing machines already exist on the market. You likely use some already. You don’t need to throw out everything to use robots!

A machine tending robot can remove the repetitive task of loading and unloading your existing product testing machines from the hands of a human worker, allowing them to perform more value-added tasks.

4. Visual Inspection with Cameras or Sensors

Perhaps your testing process involves analyzing visual images of your electronic products or testing them with other sensors. Collecting this data is arduous for your inspection engineers. It would be better to spend their time analyzing the collected data.

Robots are a great option for collecting this sensor data and help to reduce the inspection bottleneck.

5. Probe Inspection

Continuity testing and other types of probe inspection are often part of the testing procedure in electronics manufacturing. This can be a dull task for humans, who can also introduce inconstancies in the testing.

A robot fitted with a testing probe offers a far more consistent approach to electronics testing.

A Great Reason to Use Robots for Electronic Product Testing

While automated verification is common in software development and SoC design, other aspects of electronic product testing have traditionally been more difficult to automate.

As you can see from the list above, robotics allows you to automate many more types of product testing than were possible in the past.

But, there is one big reason that electronic product testing is better with a robot than it is with human workers…

Testing requires repetitive consistency and humans are not consistent.

We humans excel at tasks that involve our cognitive abilities. We are not really good in tasks that require us to perform exactly the same physical motion every time.

Robots, on the other hand, are extremely consistent.

3 More Good Reasons to Use Robotic Product Testing

On top of the consistency benefits, here are 3 more reasons that robots are better at electronic product testing than humans are:

1. Allows for Optimization of Testing Process

Thanks to the high repeatability of robots, you can continue to optimize your product testing processes over time. Even making a small improvement to the process can add up to huge time savings and performance boosts over time.

2. More Consistent Data Collection

As well as catching quality issues before the products leave your facility, a huge benefit of product testing is the data that you collect. This data allows you to trace faults back to their source and improve the overall quality of your products. Robots produce much more consistent data than humans which makes the data more useful.

3. Better Reporting of Faults

The improved consistency of collected data also makes it much easier to report faults. With human data collection, you always have uncertainty about whether the faults have been accurately recorded. With a robot, you can be sure that data points are consistently recorded.

One Key Factor for Successful Electronic Product Testing with Robots

If you are looking to improve your electronic product testing with a robot, there is one factor many companies overlook: robot programming.

Using the right programming tool can speed up the robot deployment, improve the maintainability of the robot code, and increase the flexibility of your robotic product testing cell.

If you want to start with robotic product testing, a good option is to use a good offline programming tool. You can find out more about this option here.

What electronic product testing task could benefit from robotic automation in your facility? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post Electronic Product Testing with Robots appeared first on RoboDK blog.

As 2022 draws closer it’s that time of year when experts reflect on the previous 12 months and make predictions for the year ahead. More below (after a look at December’s news) but before all that…

All of us at RoboDK would like to wish our
customers, partners, and friends around the world
a prosperous and automation-filled 2022!

Industrial Robot Brief

There were some exciting numbers in the International Federation of Robotics’ eagerly-anticipated annual World Robot Report, which was released in December. Key headlines from the document:

• robot density worldwide in 2020 (126 robots per 10,000 employees) is almost a doubling of 2015’s numbers (66 per 10,000)

• robot density in China has more than quadrupled from 49 in 2015 to 246 in 2020

• Japan delivers 45% of the global robot supply

Download the 2021 World Robot Report here.

Meanwhile, in other industrial robot news, Bangalore-based Pace Robotics raised an undisclosed seed investment from Pidilite Industries Ltd. for an equity stake of 19.5%; a Bloomberg opinion piece suggested that while industrial robots are a boon, they are also creating a ‘crisis of masculinity’; researchers at Nara Institute of Science and Technology unveiled a soft jig that may improve the performance of general-purpose assembly robots; UK-based researchers showcased their research into improving nuclear waste-handling through human-robot collaboration; READY Robotics announced a partnership with Futura Automation; and ABB unveiled two new OmniCore robot controller models.

Two New Bio-Inspired Gripper Designs

Researchers at Stanford revealed ‘farmHand‘ a gripper that incorporates gecko-inspired materials and can handle delicate food items such as fruit as well as lift heavy objects.

Meanwhile, a team from China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong University revealed a new soft gripper design based on the ability of tentacles and elephant trunks to grasp delicate objects safely. The grippers are based on ‘pneu-nets’ (pneumatically actuated elastomeric structures), which consist of a series of connected internal chambers that can be inflated pneumatically, blowing them up like a balloon.

Meet DroneDog

Using Boston Dynamics’ Spot as a mobile platform, Asylon Robotics has developed ‘DroneDog’ an autonomous mobile perimeter security robot that can seamlessly integrate with Asylon’s existing portfolio of aerial drone security systems. Asylon’s hardware and software additions enable DroneDog to provide live video monitoring, teleoperation, 20x optical zoom, infrared vision for nighttime operations, and automated charging for a set-and-forget system.

Watch the full DroneDog presentation (with Q&A) below….

2021 Reflections

Where better to start than with The Robot Report’s “20 Most Popular Stories of 2021“? From business headlines (such as John Deere’s acquisition of Bear Flag Robotics) through Mars-based robot helicopters to self-driving cars, these stories reflect the robot news that resonated most with readers in 2021.

Elsewhere:

• Robotics 24/7 asked an impressive selection of robotics thought leaders to reflect on the challenges and accomplishments of 2021
• Diginomica’s Chris Middleton reviewed the year in “AI, automation [and] robophobia“, and
• designboom revealed its Top Ten Robotics & AI stories for 2021

2022 Predictions

ZDNet’s Greg Nichols predicts that 2022 will see machine vision with learning capabilities provide new application possibilities for roboticists, from vision-based drones and robotic harvesting to robotic sorting in recycling and warehouse pick & place. Nichols writes:

We’re finally at the inflection point: The moment where these applications are becoming good enough to provide real value in semi-structured environments where traditional robots could never succeed.

—2022: A major revolution in robotics

Elsewhere:

• Analytics Insights featured several robotics companies in its ‘100 Most Disruptive Companies to Watch In 2022‘
• Forbes published ‘10 AI predictions for 2022‘, and
• TechRepublic tapped experts from Sony for their views on how AI could impact hiring practices, robotics, and neural networks in 2022

RoboDK’s December Reading

Five more robotics news items from December that grabbed our attention.

• Teaching Artificial Intelligence to Navigate Oceans Via Ocean Currents (AZO Robotics)

• This Robot Looks Like a Pancake and Jumps Like a Maggot (The New York Times)

• Gesture control for lab robots (Laboratory News)

• ‘Human-like’ brain helps robot out of a maze (ScienceDaily)

• Cuttlefish-Like Robots Are Far More Efficient Than Propeller-Powered Machines (Interesting Engineering)

What are you most looking forward to from robotics and AI in 2022? Comment below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post Monthly Robotics News – December 2021 appeared first on RoboDK blog.

The robot market has long been dominated by a few manufacturers. But, other robot companies are doing some interesting things and are worth your attention.

There are a lot of robot brands available on the market these days. We think this diversity is a good thing!

However, the large range of robots can make it difficult to know which robot companies you should pay attention to. if you are in the market for some robotic hardware.

Traditionally, the robotics market has been dominated by what is sometimes known as “The Big 4.” In fact, this refers to the large robotic manufacturers: ABB, Fanuc, KUKA, and Yaskawa.

These 4 manufacturers — and a few other large prominent companies — have supplied the vast majority of robots to the industry for decades.

You might assume that you should go with one of the large names. But, at RoboDK we believe that a lot of great robot hardware companies are worth your attention. Some of them are new entrants to the market but others have been operating for many years.

Here is our list of 13 of robot hardware companies to look out for in 2022.

All of them are available in the RoboDK programming software.

1. Kinova

Firstly, Kinova is a Canadian robotic company based in Quebec specializing in collaborative robots.

They manufacture robotic arms that are suitable for both personal assistance in the medical industry and use in industry, research, and education. In fact, the collaborative arms are lightweight, portable, and easily adapt to varied application areas. Kinova also provides accessories such as grippers and actuators.

2. Doosan

Doosan Robotics is a subsidiary of the Doosan Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea.

They have several robots that are arranged into their A, H, and M series. Doosan’s website includes a handy application chooser that allows you to narrow down your choice of robots based on your task requirements. It suggests suitable robots for your application and the required accessories.

3. Techman

Techman is a collaborative robotics company based in Taoyuan, Taïwan that formed a strategic alliance with Japanese firm Omron in 2018.

Their cobots are grouped into a regular series (with payload capacities of 4-6kg) and a heavy-medium series (with payloads of 12-14kg). The robots are targeted at a range of different industries including food processing, construction, retail, and pharmaceutical.

4. Nachi

Nachi Robotics was established in 1989 and is based in Michigan, United States.

They offer a large range of robotic arms with payloads ranging from 2kg all the way up to 700kg. They also have specific robots for palletizing, handling, heavy-duty tasks, spot welding, and cleanroom operation.

5. Mecademic

Mecademic is a manufacturer of small industrial robots based in Montreal, Canada (close to us at RoboDK HQ).

They describe their robots as the smallest, most precise industrial robots on the market. They offer both a 6 DoF robotic arm and a SCARA robot for high-speed pick and place applications.

6. AUBO

Aubo is a collaborative robot manufacturer based in Tennessee, United States.

They offer two cobot series: the i-series robots which have payload capacities of 3-16kg and the iV-series robots which include integrated robotic vision hardware. Customers use the robots in a varied range of applications, from cylinder head blowing to security patrols.

7. ESTUN

Estun Automation is based in Nanjing, China, and produces a range of automation components, including robots.

They offer a large range of robot types including linear axis robots, SCARA, Delta, four-axis palletizing robots, and conventional articulated arms.

RoboDK currently supports the Estun ER16 6DoF robot. But, if you are using one of their other robots, let us know and we will add it to the software.

8. Dobot

Dobot is a manufacturer of small industrial and desktop robots based in Shenzhen, China.

The company shot to fame following its highly successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015 for the original Dobot robot for hobbyists. Since then, they have expanded their range significantly and now have a collaborative robot series for industry, educational robots, and a series of color-mixing 3D printers.

9. Hanwha

Hanwha Precision Machinery is a subsidiary of the Hanwha Group, based in Changwon, South Korea.

They have a range of collaborative robots supporting payload capacities of 3-12kg and are primarily targeted at applications of assembly, screwing, dispensing, and pick and place. They are useful in various industries including automotive, electronics, and plastics.

10. Han’s Robot

Han’s Robot is a robot manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China.

They offer 5 types of robots: Elfin Collaborative Robots, Star Mobile Robots, Hybrid Navigation Mobile Robots, SCARA Robots, and the so-called “Cute Educational Robot.” The Elfin cobot range has payload capacities of 3-15kg.

11. Huibo

Huibo is a robot manufacturer based in Jiangsu, China.

They offer robots targeted at 4 main applications: a glaze spraying robot, a polishing robot, an AGV (autonomous guided vehicle), and an electric server booster arm. The glaze spraying robot suppliesas complete applications for the task.

12. OTC Daihen

OTC Daihen is an automation component manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan.

They have an extensive product line that includes 6 DoF and 7 DoF robotic arms, positioners, sensors, and welding components. Moreover, their 7 DoF robots include an extra axis to avoid interference without changing the pose of the tool.

13. GSK

GSK is a robot manufacturer based in Guangdong, China.

They offer a large range of different robots including 6 DoF robotic arms, delta robots, SCARA robots, and welding robots. Moreover, they also offer other automation components like servo drivers.

After all, if you are looking for a robot for your facility, this could be a good time to have a look beyond The Big 4 and consider these other robot hardware companies.

However, whatever robot you choose, users can be programme it with RoboDK.

Finally, you can find all of these manufacturers in our Robot Library

Which robot hardware company do you prefer? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post Robot Hardware Companies to Look Out for in 2022 appeared first on RoboDK blog.

For years, automation has only been accessible to a select few companies in the furniture industry.

Only those larger manufacturers that produced many identical items were able to justify the addition of automated machines. Smaller manufacturers have largely stuck with manual processes.

But, there is now an option for furniture manufacturers looking to expand their operations with automation.

Robots offer a more flexible alternative to conventional automation. They apply to a range of different tasks. They are even suitable for tasks that traditionally require craftspeople.

Are Robots Suitable for the Craft of Furniture Making?

People sometimes wonder if robotics is a viable option for furniture manufacturing. Robots might seem more suited to car manufacturing, where they have been commonplace for decades.

You might be concerned that robots won’t be able to provide the handmade touch that is often valued in the furniture industry.

But, one of the benefits of robots is that they are so adaptable. Movements that would be too complex for conventional automation are often possible with a robot.

This makes the handmade touch more accessible with robots than you might think.

Robots Could Help Revive the Furniture Industry

Of course, the purpose of adding robots to your furniture manufacturing process isn’t to remove human workers.

Robots can never remove the human touch completely. What they do provide is a way to maximize the skills and time of the people in your team.

This is particularly important right now. Over the last few years, the furniture industry has experienced skills shortages. It’s now harder than ever to find skilled craftspeople for all the jobs that are needed in a growing furniture company.

Robots offer an alternative to offshoring and other forms of automation. They allow you to scale your operations without compromising on quality.

7 Robotic Applications for the Furniture Industry

Here are some perfect applications for furniture manufacturers looking to add robotics to their operations. They can offer immediately obvious benefits to the manufacturing process. In addition, it allows workers to maximize their time and efforts:

1. Wood Milling

Milling is a core task for many furniture manufacturers, whether you are cutting out flat shapes for later assembly or you are sculpting 3D details into blocks of material.

Robotic milling offers a huge degree of flexibility compared to other forms of milling automation. They are larger than CNC machines and so aren’t limited by the size of the workpiece that you can operate on.

2. Product Inspection

Inspection is often the final stage in the manufacturing process. This step comes before your furniture products are packaged and shipped. Good inspection processes can help reduce rework and recalls. As a result, it increases the quality of your products and the image of your brand.

Robots can be integrated with vision systems, ultrasound scanners, and other sensors. Thus, it makes your furniture inspection step more streamlined.

3. Sanding and Surface Preparation

Sanding and other forms of surface preparation are laborious tasks. Throughout a long shift, the consistency of manual sanding can suffer, leading to a reduction in quality.

The huge benefit of using robots for sanding is the consistency of the surface finish that they provide. When you have programmed the robot’s path correctly, it will move the abrasive media over the surface of the material, in the same way, every time.

4. Painting and Coating

Manual painting often suffers because of the inconsistency in the amount of paint used. If the person slows down for even a moment when they are performing the painting movement, they will use more paint than necessary. This is wasteful and reduces the quality of the finish.

Painting robots are a perfect option for improving the efficiency of your furniture painting task. Various robot models are specially designed for painting operations.

5. Large Product Machining

One huge benefit of using robots for furniture manufacturing is their large workspace. You can increase the size of almost any robot’s workspace simply by adding external axes. This is very useful when you are working with large furniture products. It can reduce steps compared to other forms of automation.

We have seen examples where people have used robotic machining to create life-size sculptures. This opens you up to more possibilities in the type of furniture projects you can fabricate.

6. Engraving Personalizations

Many furniture products offer some degree of personalization. Whether for the end-user or when product variants are sold by different suppliers. Engraved logos are also a popular addition.

Robots offer varied possibilities for engraving, etching, and other forms of personalization.

7. Palletizing for Shipment

You likely have plenty of other tasks that do not directly add value to the furniture products but are necessary to prepare them for shipment. Loading packaged products onto pallets is one such task.

Many industries use robotic palletizing and can remove this back-breaking task work from human workers.

How to Program a Furniture Robot Quickly and Easily

Whatever task you choose to perform with a robot, you probably want to get it up and running as soon as possible.

A vital step in any robot deployment is programming the robot. The right programming environment can significantly impact the time it takes to get a working robot running.

RoboDK provides a powerful programming environment that is simple to use, even for beginners to robotics. You can download a free trial copy on our download page.

What tasks in your furniture company would be most beneficial if you gave them to a robot? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post 7 Great Robotic Applications for the Furniture Industry appeared first on RoboDK blog.

Many great industrial robot companies are worthy of your attention. But, some companies have been leading the industry for decades.

Some people feel more comfortable choosing an industry-leading brand.

They figure that the more people who use a robot brand, the better the robots will be. There is certainly a logic to choosing a brand that has been popular for decades.

In reality, there are now hundreds of industrial robot companies that offer reliable, feature-rich, and productive robots. It’s worth looking at the whole market as each manufacturer excels in different areas.

But, some robotic companies certainly lead the industry.

And robots from all of these manufacturers are supported by RoboDK.

What Makes An Industry-Leading Industrial Robot Brand?

The robot brands listed below are what we would call “industry-leading.”

What does this mean in practice?

Indeed, an industrial robot company can stand out for several reasons including:

• It has a high annual revenue or other markers of high financial success
• It has been a stalwart of the robotics industry for decades
• Its robots are ubiquitous in some industries or for some applications
• It pioneered a change in the industry

These markers don’t tell the whole story, but they can be useful for getting a broad overview of the “key players” in the robotics market.

The Biggest 4 Industrial Robot Companies

For many years, the robotics industry has been led by a set of companies that are often referred to as “The Big 4.”

In fact, these companies’ robots can be found in thousands of facilities worldwide and together they command roughly 75% of the market for robotics. Therefore, they are often immediately recognizable thanks to the distinct branding and product design from each company.

1. ABB

You can usually recognize an ABB robot by its white color with distinctive red logo.

ABB was founded in 1988 and is based in Zürich, Switzerland. As well as robotics, it specializes in other automation technology and power equipment.

The company has an annual revenue of around $28 billion and in 2002 it became the first company in the world to sell 100,000 robots.

2. Fanuc

You can usually recognize a Fanuc robot by its bright yellow color.

Fanuc was founded in 1972 and is based in Oshino, Japan with its headquarters at the base of the iconic Mount Fuji. The company specializes in robotics and other automation equipment, particularly CNC machines.

The company has an annual revenue of $4.7 billion and has installed over 750,000 robots worldwide.

3. KUKA

You can usually recognize a KUKA robot by its distinctive orange color.

KUKA was founded in 1898 when it started as a manufacturer of acetylene gas. The company first ventured into industrial automation in 1956 with an automatic welding system and created its first welding robot in 1971.

The company is based in Augsburg, Germany, and has an annual revenue of $2.5 billion of which $899 million is in robotics.

4. Yaskawa

The Motoman range of robots is produced by Yaskawa, which you can usually recognize by their white and blue coloring.

Yaskawa was founded in 1915 but their first robot was released in 1974. It was the first electrically driven industrial robot in Japan, as robots before then were all hydraulically driven.

The company is based in Fukuoka, Japan, and has an annual revenue of around $1.7 billion of which around $597 million is in robotics.

6 Other Popular Industrial Robotics Companies

Although The Big 4 above have a huge place in the robotics market, these other industrial robotics companies could be said to be also leading the industry in their own ways.

You can find robots from these companies in many facilities worldwide. As with all incumbent companies in robotics, they are all based in Japan or Europe.

5. Comau

Comau is an automation and robotics manufacturer based in Turin, Italy.

The company was founded in 1973 and developed the first laser robot for General Motors in the 1980s. Most recently it has moved into collaborative robotics and its Aura cobot has the largest payload capacity on the market (170kg).

The company has an annual revenue of $1.2 billion.

6. Epson

When you think of Epson, you might first think of their desktop printers. However, the robotics arm of Epson is a large player in the industry.

Epson was founded in 1942 and is based in Nagano, Japan. The company first brought its robots to the North and South American markets in 1984.

The whole company has an annual revenue of $9.6 billion of which about $1.32 billion is in wearable and industrial products.

7. Kawasaki

Kawasaki is a Japanese industrial manufacturer probably best known for its motorcycles, engines, and aerospace equipment.

The company was founded in 1896 but started making robots in 1968 when it joined an agreement with Unimation (the world’s first industrial robotics company) to make robots locally.

The company has an annual revenue of $1.3 billion and has installed over 160,000 robots worldwide.

8. Mitsubishi

A company best known for its electric products, Mitsubishi Electric’s robots are another common fixture in the industry.

Mitsubishi Electric (itself part of Mitsubishi) was founded in 1921 and is based in Tokyo, Japan.

The company has an annual revenue of around $11.6 billion of which around $3 billion is industrial automation systems.

9. Stäubli

Stäubli robots are another stalwart of the robotics industry and can be found in many facilities worldwide.

The company was founded in 1892 and is based in Horgen, Switzerland. Beginning as a manufacturer of weaving automation, it diversified into robotics in 1982 when it acquired Unimation.

The company has an annual turnover of around $1.2 billion.

10. Universal Robots and the Cobot Market

Finally, the newest company on this list was at the forefront of one of the latest trends in robotics — collaborative robots (aka cobots).

Universal Robots was founded in 2005 and is based in Odense, Denmark. The company likely coined the term “collaborative robot” to mean a robot that can operate without safety fencing. The company has an annual revenue of $219 million.

Omron and the Growth of Cobots

Since then, dozens of other collaborative robot companies have been founded and the bigger players in the market have also produced their own cobots.

One such company that entered the collaborative robotics market with great success is Omron.

Omron is an industrial automation company based in Kyoto, Japan. They partnered with Techman Robot in 2018, adding a series of successful collaborative robots to their existing wide catalog of industrial robots, including mobile robots, SCARAs, and Delta robots. The company has an annual revenue of $6.9 billion.

Which Industrial Robot Brand Should You Choose?

On the whole, all these industrial robot companies and more could be a good choice for your next robot.

But, how do you tell which robot is the right one? It can be overwhelming to see so many different robots available.

A good place to start is to decide what properties your robot application will need. What payload capacity, for example, and what reach will be necessary for your task?

From then, you can continue your research with a better understanding of what you’re looking for in a robot.

Finally, whatever robot brand you choose, you can be sure that it can be supported by RoboDK.

Which industrial robot companies do you have experience with? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post 10 Industrial Robot Companies That Lead the Industry appeared first on RoboDK blog.

Could labeling automation be a good option for improving the process? If so, could robots be a good approach?

Is it even possible to automate a labeling task with a robot?

Labeling is a vital task in many manufacturing and packaging processes. Whether you label your finished products for shipping or you add tracking labels during the manufacturing process; it’s likely that your company applies many labels every day.

The problem is that manual labeling is a very inefficient process. People can end up spending hours of their work shift just sticking labels to products and workpieces.

Not only is manual labeling a bad use of people’s time, but it also leads to errors that can cause compliance issues and incorrect tracking of products.

Automation is a tried and tested solution to improve labeling processes. What type of labeling automation is right for you?

What Options Are Available for Labeling Automation

If you have decided to introduce labeling automation to your operations, you are probably comparing the various options on the market.

There are two main categories of solutions for labeling automation.

These are:

1. Conventional labeling automation — Fully automated labeling machines are often large, expensive, and inflexible. Usually, each machine is designed for just one type of labeling task. It can perform this task at very high throughputs. As a result, this type of automated labeler is only really suitable for mass production environments.
2. Robotic labeling automation — A newer approach to automated labeling is to incorporate robots into the process. This provides more flexibility to the task and opens up labeling automation to a wider number of companies. There are two main approaches to automated labeling with a robot (see below).

Within both of these categories, there are many different systems available on the market. Which system you choose will depend on your specific needs. But, first, you should decide if you will opt for a conventional or a robotic process.

Labeling Automation With Robots?

Robotic labeling is a rather new approach to labeling automation.

You might be wondering why you would choose to use a robot for this task, given that robots are most often associated with tasks like pick and place or palletizing.

4 Reasons to Automate Labeling with a Robot

There are some very good reasons to opt for automated labeling.

Some of the most compelling reasons to use a robot are:

1. Flexible Labor Savings — Hiring new people is expensive. Adding labor costs makes sense for those high-value tasks that make the best use of people’s skills. However, labeling is not a value-added task. A labeling robot is often a much better solution and is more flexible if there is fluctuating demand for the task
2. Increased Throughput — Robots can increase the throughput of your labeling process significantly compared to manual labeling. Some robots are much faster than humans at the task and almost all robots can operate 24-hours a day, which drastically improves throughput in the long term.
3. Consistent Label Placement — Over the course of a long shift, people make mistakes in label placement. Robots are very consistent and so will improve the quality of the labeling task. If you have programmed your robot correctly, the number of errors can be reduced to zero.
4. Waste Reduction — Fewer labeling mistakes also mean less wastage. Robots can both reduce the number of labels that are wasted and reduce the product wastage caused by compliance issues from incorrectly placed tracking labels.

How to Program Your Labeling Automation Robot

Before you deploy your labeling robot, it’s important to think about how you will program the robot.

Conventional robot programming is difficult and requires significant robotics expertise. However, when you use the right robot programming software, programming can be quick and easy; even if you don’t have previous experience with robotics.

We recommend choosing a good offline programming software as this will give you the most flexibility in your programming.

You have 2 options for programming a labeling robot using offline programming software:

Option 1: Machine Tending a Labeling Machine

Perhaps you already use a semi-automated labeling machine for your labeling. This is a machine where your operator places the object to be labeled next to the machine and presses a button to apply the label.

In this case, a robot can be used to pick up the object and hold it near the semi-automated labeling machine. One company used this approach in a demo to apply personalized stickers to plastic drinking cups.

In this case, you would program the robot to perform the pick and place motion then use I/O signals to activate the labeling machine instead of pressing the button by hand.

Option 2: Labeling Directly With the Robot

The second approach is to attach a labeling tool directly to the end of the robot arm. This makes the approach similar to a human operating a handheld labeling tool.

In this case, you would add the labeling tool as a tool in your offline programming software. You can add new tools very quickly if you are using RoboDK. You would then program the robot to move to the location of each object and activate the labeling tool.

Test Your Labeling Process With a Robot Now

Would you like to test your labeling task with robotic automation before you purchase your robot?

You can do this very easily in RoboDK. Just pick download a free trial copy if you aren’t using it already and add your labeling robot into the simulator.

This will allow you to test the application in a simulation before you commit to purchasing the physical robot cell.

How could labeling automation help your process? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post Labeling Automation: Robots to Apply Labels? appeared first on RoboDK blog.

There is a lot of pressure for machine shops to improve efficiency. You want to offer the same services for less cost. Hiring new people is an option, but there are difficulties finding good people to fill the roles.

Is robotic automation suitable? And, if so, how can you get started with machine shop automation quickly and easily?

While automation has been common in manufacturing for decades, smaller machine shops have traditionally been slow on the uptake. Understandably, machine shop owners often assume that automation is only suitable for very high-volume manufacturing because this was always the case in the past.

The tasks that machine shops undertake are very varied. On any given day, you might be producing prototypes of a new design, repairing broken equipment, or even manufacturing small-batch products.

How can you automate tasks in such a variable environment?

Is Automation Really Suitable for Low-Volume Machine Shops?

These days, flexible robotic automation allows machine shop owners to access automation in ways that were just not possible several years ago.

Machine shops are increasingly adopting robotics and other automation to help them improve productivity and efficiency.

Even if you are aware of this trend, you might be uncertain about adding automation to your own machine shop. You might be dubious if robotic automation is really applicable to the needs of your business.

A common reason that people are uncertain about adding robots is that they don’t know what is possible to automate.

As you know, there is a huge variety of manual and semi-automatic machines in any machine shop.

Such machines include:

• CNC machines
• Grinding machines
• Lathes
• Shapers
• Planers
• 3D printers
• … and the list goes on.

You might wonder where robots would even fit among these different machines!

What Opportunities Are You Missing Without Flexible Automation?

The fact is that there are many exciting opportunities for robotic automation in machine shops.

When you start looking for tasks — and you are a little familiar with the capabilities of robotics — you will start seeing opportunities for automation all over the place.

There are 4 classic signs that a task is suitable for robotic automation. You will often see these signs written about in regard to robotics.

The signs are:

1. Dull — The task is boring for a human to perform, such as loading and unloading dozens of identical parts into a CNC machine.
2. Dirty — The task is dirty and messy for a human to do. This can be unpleasant and adds extra work for people to do the task, such as spray painting products.
3. Dangerous — The task is actively dangerous for a human to perform. This could be for obvious reasons, such as working with oxalic acid for anodizing metal, or the danger could come indirectly, such as when repeatedly lifting heavy items during a palletizing task.
4. Dear — The task is more expensive when performed by a human, such as paying a person for a whole day’s work to arrange products on trays.

You likely have various tasks in your machine shop that fit these descriptions. The flexibility of modern robots means that they can be applied in many different ways throughout a machine shop.

5 Robotic Tasks That Are Perfect for Machine Shops

Here are 5 examples of tasks that are perfect for robots in a machine shop:

1. Robot Milling

You might think that a robot can never come close to a CNC for milling or other machining processes. However, in some situations, a robot can outperform a CNC machine. Robot milling offers some advantages that are not possible with conventional CNC machines, such as the ability to work with larger workpieces.

2. Machine Tending

Often, a good first robotic task for a machine shop is simply for the robot to tend some of your existing machines. A popular choice is for the robot to load and unload CNC machines. This is the type of task that you can deploy very quickly if you use the right approach.

3. Welding

Welding is one of those dirty and dangerous jobs that are perfect for robotic automation. It has also become increasingly difficult to find skilled welders over the past few years. Using a robot for welding has added benefits over manual welding, including improved weld quality and consistency.

4. Palletizing

Palletizing and depalletizing are necessary tasks for any machine shop. Whether you are unpacking raw materials from a pallet or loading empty pallets with finished products, someone needs to perform this dull, dangerous task. Robots are a superb option for palletizing automation as they cannot be injured by the repetitive nature of the task and they give your people more time to perform higher-value tasks.

5. 3D Printing

Even just a few years ago, 3D printing was reserved for only specialist machine shops. Now, many shops offer additive manufacturing services. Robotic 3D printing is still underutilized by machine shops and offers some additional benefits over conventional 3D printing. Adding a 3D printing robot can really set you apart from your competitors.

The Key to Deploying Machine Shop Automation Quickly

When you have identified some robotic applications that could work for your machine shop… how do you get started?

One of the keys to getting a robot up and running quickly is to choose the right programming system.

When you program your robot efficiently, you can put the robot into production with minimum difficulty.

A good first step is to build a mock-up of your robotic task within a robot simulator. This allows you to see what the application will look like and gives you the flexibility to “play” with the robot to see what solution will be best for you.

What task might be good to automate with a robot in your machine shop? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post Get Started with Machine Shop Automation appeared first on RoboDK blog.

One team of students from the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt used RoboDK. They earned the winning spot in the first Robothon Grand Challenge 2021.

In an international robotics competition, you need to program your robot quickly and efficiently.

There’s no time for you to mess around with complex code files or arcane manufacturer-specific programming languages. Spending as much of your valuable time developing the functionality of the robot will earn you points in the competition.

In the first-ever Robothon Grand Challenge, the winning team of students made sure they spent all their time on the core functionality of their robot by using RoboDK for programming.

Here’s how they did it!

The Robothon Grand Challenge 2021

The Robothon Grand Challenge was held during Automatica Sprint 2021, an offshoot of Automatica, the world’s leading robotics trade fair.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was held virtually in June to provide a digital platform for the robotics industry to get together and provide support to the community.

The Robothon Grand Challenge is an international competition in robot manipulation. The aim is to use robotics to address pressing issues facing the economy and the environment.

This year, the specific aim of the competition was to find intelligent solutions to increase the recycling rate for e-waste.

The Challenge: Disassembly of E-Waste

The competition entrants needed to complete an integration task. In fact, they had to create a robot that could disassemble an electronic product for recycling.

As the competition organizers explain:

“Electronic waste continues to accumulate and, consequently, so does the amount of precious and toxic materials entering landfills; unless properly disassembled and sorted. This work is repetitive, dirty, and dangerous which makes it a great use case for automation and robotics.

“With our challenge, we want to offer young talents and academics the chance to actively participate and shape the future of robotics in science & industry.”

The winning team explains that, currently, only 20% of the worldwide e-waste is recycled. With this in mind, projections show that by 2050, the amount of e-waste will increase to 120 million tonnes. Furthermore, e-waste is not just an environmental problem but also has a huge financial value estimated at $62.5 billion.

However, there is currently no completely automated solution to recycling e-waste on the market.

Due to the unstructured nature of e-waste, it requires advanced sensors and algorithms to detect, recognize and localize e-waste components. Moreover, it also needs fine-grained manipulation to separate different types of e-waste components.

How Robots Can Reduce E-Waste

The concept behind this year’s challenge is that robots can be a good solution to dismantle e-waste and sort it for further processing.

In brief, the challenge included 5 levels, which each team had to complete using the official competition task board:

1. Button press — The teams first had to program their robot to press a button on the task board. The more times the robot pressed the button in the allotted time, the more points they earned. This means the task prioritized efficient movement.
2. Peg in hole port insertion — A classic manipulation task. Peg in hole is a demonstration of the robot’s ability to insert parts during assembly. In this case, it involved removing and reinserting a plug into a socket.
3. Key in keyhole — The robot then had to pick up a key, insert it into a keyhole, and turn it.
4. Battery removal — The teams had to program the robot to remove the cover of a battery case. They had then to extract the batteries inside. This is quite a complex task for a robot as it involves several fine motor skills.
5. Battery recycling — Finally, the robot had to pick up the battery and insert it into a hole. This triggered a button press. Again, more button presses earned more points.

Introducing… the RoboPig Team

The winning team came from the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt.

The team was made up of Elhasan Mohamed and Desmond Fomelack (who study mechatronics), Felix Pagels (technical mathematics), and Martin Löser (lab employee and graduate engineer). The team was established and supervised by Dr. Tobias Kaupp, a professor of robotics and digital production.

Team captain Elhasan Mohamed explained what it was like using RoboDK for this project:

“As a robotics student, I enjoyed working and developing with RoboDK. It allows me to use its built-in tools, and at the same time, to build something on the ground level that fits what I need exactly.

“I would definitely recommend it to someone who just started learning robotics but also to a robotics engineer that deals with industrial robots in a professional way”

The Team’s Robotic Setup

The team’s robot setup incorporated a few different hardware and software elements to complete the task.

The core components of their solution were:

• A Universal Robots UR5e collaborative robot with integrated force sensor
• A Robotiq Hand-E precision gripper
• An Intel RealSense depth camera
• 3D printed custom jaws to handle the parts
• OpenCV computer vision library
• Python programming language
• RoboDK

By using these off-the-shelf components, the team got their robot up and running quickly and efficiently without “reinventing the wheel”.

Indeed, this efficient hardware integration allowed them to have more time and energy on creating a robot program.

Why the Team Used RoboDK

The team’s programming setup revolved around our RoboDK offline programming software.

They had 4 main reasons for choosing RoboDK over the alternatives were:

1. It allowed them to quickly acquire skills in basic robotic manipulator programming.
2. The RoboDK API enabled the integration of robotics and machine vision, which they needed for their solution.
3. The RoboDK toolset is easy to use and they avoided investing time in using multiple other solutions.
4. RoboDK’s visualization features allowed them to develop the solution rapidly and effectively.

Overall, the choice of using RoboDK made sure that their integration tasks would be as efficient as possible. Instead of fiddling around with too much complex low-level robotics code, the tool allowed them to focus all their core development effort on integrating the more advanced parts of their program.

This is perhaps a contributing factor to the RoboPig team being one of only 4 of the 10 competition entrants to complete all of the competition task levels.

Their Robotic Program

The team’s robot program completed the task with the following steps:

1. The vision sensor used 2D image processing to roughly localize the task board in the workspace.
2. The robot’s force feedback was used to perform fine localization of the board.
3. With the position of the board now known, the robot pressed the button for the Level 1 task then picked up the key from the board.
4. Using force feedback the robot inserted the key into the hole for the Level 2 task.
5. Force feedback was also used to extract the connector in Level 3 and insert it into a new socket.
6. The robot then removed the cover of the battery pack for Level 4 and ran through a sequence of preprogrammed motions to extract the batteries.
7. The robot then used a Spiral Search method to insert the battery into the final part of the task board for Level 5.

RoboDK’s simulation provided them a fast, agile development and debugging environment for these steps. Both for robot movement and image processing. Moreover, it also allowed them to easily set up a fixed coordinate system for the task board. Finally, they succeeded in setting up a real-time visualization of the robot as the program was running.

This video shows the winning robot deployment in action:

How could RoboDK speed up your robot deployment? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post Students Win Global Robotics Competition With RoboDK appeared first on RoboDK blog.

Just like any other robot application, programming is a vital step when deploying a new application for healthcare tasks.

How do we program healthcare robots?

You can program some healthcare robots in the same way as industrial robots. For example, you can use an offline programming software such as RoboDK. However, other tasks require different programming approaches.

Let’s look at some of the most recent robotic additions to the healthcare sector and explore how you can program such robots.

1. Cleaning Robots

Ultraviolet (UV) disinfecting became extremely popular over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is because it provides a non-contact way to clean. Robots like Puductor2 can autonomously disinfect a hospital environment using this method.

How it’s programmed

As autonomous guided vehicles, you can program cleaning robots with machine learning and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). Just like a robotic vacuum cleaner, they autonomously navigate around a building while avoiding obstacles; creating a map as they do so.

2. Mental Health Robots

A recent study found that 68% of people would rather talk to a “robot” about their mental health issues than to a person. Consequently, this has opened up an interesting new use case for robots as it aims at easing people’s mental health concerns.

How it’s programmed

In this case, the term “robot” is not referring to the physical robots that we most often talk about at RoboDK. Instead, they are like AI chatbots. You can program them using a combination of natural language processing, a topic-specific database, and machine learning.

3. Robotic Surgery

In addition, probably the most well-established robot application in healthcare is robotic surgery. Specifically, they have used the da Vinci robot for years in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. Recently, this robot also allowed 14 surgeons to work on the same cancer operation.

How it’s programmed

For the most part, they do not actually program surgery robots. They are telerobots; which means that the surgeon operates the robot themselves. They can use a bilateral control system to control them, which ensures that every movement the surgeon makes, the robot can replicate.

4. Robot-Assisted Knee Replacement

The latest in robotic surgery is a robot-assisted cutting arm for knee surgery. In a similar way to collaborative robots, this robot can operate alongside the surgeons when they are replacing a patient’s knee. They provide extra precision to the operation, drastically improving recovery time.

How it’s programmed

As with other surgery robots, the surgeon controls the robot directly, this time by physically moving the robot. As a result, it’s likely that such robots are also based around advanced control system programming.

5. Robots for Testing Products

A more familiar task for those of us using industrial robots, testing products such as medications and healthcare-related devices is perfect for robotics. You can program the robot to perform repetitive motions that stress test the product. A recent and surprising example is a set of robotic jaws that they used to test medicated gum.

How it’s programmed

For most product testing applications, you can program your robot in the same way as an industrial robot. With offline programming, you create your robot program in a graphical interface. You can also program it with a text-based programming language; then download it to the robot and put it into production.

6. Inspection Robots

Robotic inspection is a useful application in many industries; from manufacturing to aerospace. One proposed healthcare-related application is to use robots with UV probes to test the nutritional value of food products.

How it’s programmed

As with any robotic inspection task, programming is a simple case of instructing the robot to the desired points or paths in the robot’s workspace. By integrating the sensor probe into the programming, the robot can easily collect data autonomously.

7. Diet-Assistance Robots

Continuing with food-related health, some researchers have proposed using social robots to help people stick to their diets. The robot acts as a kind of “health coach,” providing tips on healthier eating.

How it’s programmed

Similar to the mental health-related robots mentioned above, the main programming done here is to create a simple form of artificial intelligence. As the researchers also incorporated a physical robot into the study, they would also program it. They would probably program it with a high-level programming language like Python or C++.

8. Telepresence Doctors

One healthcare application that was increasingly necessary during the Covid-19 pandemic is telepresence. Through these remotely-controlled robots, doctors can visit the bedsides of patients by driving the robot. They can also speak to them via a video link.

How it’s programmed

Depending on the complexity of the robot, programming methods will vary. Doctors can drive the simplest telepresence robots, using instructions like “forwards” or “turn left.” However, they can also drive these robots by clicking on the desired location in the video image. These will include some self-driving algorithms.

9. Improving Healthcare Efficiency

Finally, robots are improving the efficiency of some healthcare tasks more than ever before. For example, they are using collaborative robots to reduce the number of repetitive tasks that people need to perform in routine blood tests.

How it’s programmed

They can program repetitive tasks just like any industrial task; which is very simple if you are using the right software.

As you can see with the examples above, there are many ways to program a robot for a healthcare application. The choice of programming method will depend on the needs for the task.

If your application involves controlling a robotic manipulator, offline programming is a good option. For other tasks, you have many other options!

What method of programming would you use for a healthcare application? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post 10 New Healthcare Robots and How They’re Programmed appeared first on RoboDK blog.

What are some examples of agile robot deployments?

What makes a robot cell agile?

Agile robotics is becoming an important driver of manufacturing growth in this third decade of the 21st century. Manufacturers who can respond quickly to changing market forces have more chance of surviving and thriving in this volatile moment in the history of the industry.

But, although you might recognize the benefits of staying agile in the current climate, you might not get clear on how you can start.

What is an agile robot?

What are the factors that determine a robot’s agility?

Which applications are suitable for an agile robot deployment?

What Most People Think of as an Agile Robot

Agility is a company’s ability to seize new opportunities and improve its processes to respond to those opportunities. An agile company is able to change quickly.

Robotics is a key technology for any agile manufacturer because they can be reprogrammed for new tasks. But, not all robots are equal in this regard.

Some people assume that industrial robots are not capable of being truly agile because it takes so long to deploy them. Robot deployments can take many months if they are not approached in an agile manner, disrupting a manufacturer’s operations in the process.

One type of robot that is often considered agile is collaborative robots. These are, generally, smaller robots that are designed to operate safely around humans. Thanks to their easy programming options, they are usually faster to deploy than more traditional industrial robots.

However, you don’t need a collaborative robot to be agile.

Actually, any robot is agile in a way. You just need to use the right tools, such as programming tools that make the deployment quicker and easier.

What Makes a Robot Cell Agile?

When you use a robot in an agile way, it allows you to take full advantage of the potential opportunities that come your way.

If you need to quickly introduce a new product line to respond to a new market opportunity — as happened at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic when manufacturers switched to making ventilators, masks, and hand gel — you will be able to do that.

But, what makes a robot cell agile?

Agility is less about the robotic hardware and more about your approach to the robot deployment.

Some examples of factors that indicate robot agility include:

• Reconfigurability — A robot cell is agile if you can change it quickly and easily. This doesn’t mean that you need to completely change the cell. However, the relevant parts of the cell (e.g. the end effector, fixtures) should be reconfigurable.
• Modularity — When you think of your robot cells in terms of modules, it becomes easier to reconfigure them. For example, pre-designed robot cells are created using defined modules that can be laid out in the cell to suit the needs of your application.
• Easy programming — Programming is one of the most important factors affecting the agility of a robot. If you are using programming tools that allow you to easily reprogram the robot, changing the application becomes much simpler.
• The right robotic technology — While it is true that you can use any robot in an agile way, it will be easier with some robots. Robotic hardware that requires extensive fiddling to get it working will make it harder to reconfigure the robot when needed.
• In-house robotic knowledge — When members of your team have the skills needed to operate the robot, this allows you to make changes more quickly than if you have to rely on external suppliers for everything. This could be as simple as choosing a programming tool that doesn’t require specialist robotics knowledge.

5 Smart Agile Robot Applications to Improve Manufacturing

So, what does an agile robot application look like?

There are many applications that could be deployed in an agile way.

Here are 5 examples of robot applications that can improve your manufacturing agility:

1. Pre-designed Robot Deburring Cells

Whatever application you choose, you can seriously speed up your deployment by going with a pre-designed robot cell.

We teamed up with DIY-Robotics to create their pre-designed, modular cells. One of their applications is a deburring station.

2. Robot Machining

With robotic machining, there are some great opportunities to operate in an agile way compared to traditional CNC machining.

For example, Doosan robotics — whose robots are supported by RoboDK — has a series of agile robot cells for robotic machining.

3. 3D Printing

Additive technologies like 3D printing have become a game-changer for agile manufacturing.

We have seen various examples of robot-enabled 3D printing that have brought this technology to new heights, including 3D printed food and architecture.

4. Machine Tending

One way to improve agility without changing your existing process is to add a robot to support another machine.

Machine tending allows you to improve the productivity of, for example, a CNC machine by taking over the job of the human operator. That person then has more time to improve your operational agility in other ways.

5. Inspection

Another non-process task that can strongly affect the agility of your operations is inspection. Products waiting for inspection can quickly mount up.

Robotic inspection is a great way to reduce this bottleneck and help you to remain agile in the face of changes.

The Key to a More Agile Robot Solution

What will determine if your robotic cell will be agile or not?

While there are several factors that indicate that your robot is agile, one of the most important is the programming tool that you use.

When the robot is easy to operate and reprogram, it’s always easier to change its operation when you need to respond to market changes.

How would more agility help your business? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post 5 Agile Robot Applications for Manufacturing appeared first on RoboDK blog.

Even when you’ve narrowed down your selection by all the usual specifications and metrics, you might still have some nagging doubts.

Will the robot be so big that it doesn’t fit into the space that you have available for it?

If you go with a smaller robot, will it be able to reach all of the areas you need it to for the task?

Is there a way to optimize the size of the robot to be most efficient?

Before you purchase a particular robot, it’s hard to tell what it will be like to have it in your facility beside you. You can watch all the YouTube videos you like, read all of the datasheets, and even look at other robots in other people’s facilities…

Without seeing how the robot will fit within your specific task, it can sometimes end up as a bit of a guessing game. You make as many calculations as you can, then you just hope.

Or you choose to be overly conservative and give up huge amounts of floor space to a robot that doesn’t need it.

Perhaps you’ve already gone through our Guide to Choosing a Robot for Manufacturing.

You’ve identified what type of robot you need, which end effector, and which accessories. You’ve narrowed down your options to a selection of robots based on their payload and repeatability. And you’ve used our tools to select a reach that seems more or less reasonable.

But, you’re still not able to visualize the full space that each robot will occupy.

Why It’s Hard to Imagine the Space a Robot Will Take Up

The problem with robots is that they are so dynamic.

With a CNC machine, for example, you can walk up to a machine in a trade show and see exactly how much space it will take up on your workfloor. The full size of the machine is simple to calculate — it’s basically a large cuboid.

With a robot, the space it takes up is not so simple. As well as the physical dimensions of the robot itself, it also occupies an extended space containing all of the locations that the robot’s end effector will reach when the robot is moving. This is known as the robot’s “workspace.”

Most 6 DoF industrial robots have a workspace that is somewhat like a sphere. Delta robots have a complex workspace that looks like a 3-dimensional arc. SCARA robots have a cylindrical workspace.

It’s hard to tell just by looking at a robot what its workspace will look like.

How can you ensure that the robot you are considering will have a workspace that suits your needs?

Workspace Visualization Helps You Make a Better Decision

Thankfully, there is a way that you can easily see the robot’s workspace and find out how it will affect your specific task.

And you can do this before you even choose which robot you want to purchase.

Workspace visualization is a tool that allows you to visualize the outer limits of a robot’s workspace as a 3D shape. In RoboDK, this space is shown as a grey outline that is placed around the simulated model of the robot.

You can use this feature to inform your decision about which robot is the best for your task.

By creating a virtual mock-up of your application, you can quickly switch between different robot models (without having to program the task itself) and use the workspace visualization feature to see if each specific robot will be the best one to suit your needs.

Once you have found a robot that fits the task — based on its workspace — you can then program the application into the simulator to ensure that your chosen robot really will be able to do the job.

How Workspace Visualization Works

When you look at the datasheet of a robot, you will normally see a basic pictorial representation of that robot’s workspace. Usually, this consists of one view from the side and one from the top of the robot.

Such pictures are helpful, but not helpful enough.

A workspace visualization is basically a 3D version of such pictures. It is produced by algorithmically moving all of the robot’s joints through all of the possible positions and mapping the resulting position of the end effector into a 3D shape.

As the calculation is done in 3D, it gives you a much more holistic perspective on the capabilities of a particular robot than you would have if you just looked at the robot’s datasheet.

The Impact of Adding an End Effector

Changes that you make to the robot will sometimes also affect its workspace. For example, when you add an end effector, the dimensions of that end effector will change the size and sometimes also the shape of the workspace. In RoboDK, you can choose to see the workspace of the robot with and without its end effector.

Whenever you add an end effector to your robot, it is good practice to use the workspace visualization feature to see how it will impact the robot’s workspace.

How to Get Started Using Workspace Visualization

With RoboDK, it’s very easy to use workspace visualization to help you in your robot purchasing decisions.

Here are the steps to view the workspace of any particular robot:

1. Load the robot model in RoboDK from our extensive Robot Library.
2. Open the robot’s properties panel by right-clicking on it in the program tree.
3. Go to the section labeled WorkSpace and choose either to view the workspace of the robot itself (from its flange) or with the current tool attached.
4. You will now see the workspace of the robot visualized around the robot itself.

Of course, you are not restricted to only viewing one robot’s workspace at a time. You can load multiple robots into the simulation and compare their workspaces side-by-side.

This can be useful when you are trying to decide between two different robot models. But, it can also be helpful when you are using multiple robots on a single task and you want to find out how their workspaces might interact and overlap.

How could workspace visualization help your robot deployment? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post How to Decide Which Robot is Best With Workspace Visualization appeared first on RoboDK blog.

One such job is airplane washing. This vital task in aerospace manufacturing does not add direct value to the process, but it is important because it can prolong the life of the plane by reducing corrosion.

The task needs to be done but it would be much better if human workers did not have to do it!

Wilder Systems, an automation supplier based in Austin, Texas, USA, has developed a highly effective system for automating the task of airplane manufacturing. They did this by using RoboDK for programming. Their system provides aerospace with a way to reduce the time to perform this task by a whopping 95%!

The Problem with Manually Washing Aircraft

Washing is a critical task in airplane manufacturing as it helps to reduce corrosion, improving the life of the plane and its safety.

The conventional method of airplane washing involves the use of sponges, brooms, rags, and ladders. A team of 4 mechanics would usually take 4 hours to wash a plane manually, taking a total of 16 person-hours.

The entire task often takes up the whole day, making both the people and the plane unavailable for that time. During that time, they are unable to perform higher-value work.

Plane washing is also a dangerous and labor-intensive process. Working at height while standing on wet, slippery surfaces can lead to injury.

Introducing Wilder Systems

Wilder Systems specializes in cost-effective robotic solutions for aircraft manufacturers.

They describe their mission as being “to expand the range of feasible robotic applications by introducing robots into aerospace manufacturing and maintenance.”

The team uses a variety of robotic technologies to do this, including mobile robots, gantry robots, and collaborative robotics.

Enter the “Drive-Thru” Robotic Washing System

The team at Wilder Systems realized that the conventional approach to aircraft washing was inefficient. They knew that they could use robots to wash airplanes more efficiently and with less risk to humans.

The goal of the project was to reduce the amount of labor and increase the safety of washing an F-16 aircraft. To do this, they designed the first robotic “drive-thru” washing system for aircraft, utilizing several robotic components.

The system provides a safer, faster solution to washing which eliminates downtime.

Compared to the 16 person-hours of the manual washing process, this system utilizes robots instead of people and the entire washing cycle is completed in just 52 minutes. If a person needed to oversee the robot, this would be a time saving of 95%. However, as the robot can operate alone, the saving is closer to a 100% saving in person-hours.

The Team’s Robotic Setup

The robotic system uses a combination of various off-the-shelf hardware and software components that the team at Wilder Systems integrate into a self-contained washing cell:

The Robotic Hardware

The hardware of the application is based around core components of:

• FANUC 6-axis industrial robots — Robotic manipulators perform the washing functionality of the task, moving the cleaning head over the airplane along programmed paths.
• PLC communication — As with many robotic applications, a Programmable Logic Controller provides the coordination between the different hardware components of the system.
• Hydraulic pump systems and auxiliary equipment — The “business end” of the application is the washing system. This uses a hydraulic pump system to propel water through the robot’s cleaning end-effector onto the dirty airplane. The robots communicate through IO to switch between the foaming and rinsing sprayer.

The Software Setup

The basic software components of the system are:

• RoboDK — Robot programming is performed by RoboDK, which makes offline programming quick and easy for both new and experienced robot programmers. The 3D model was imported from Autodesk Fusion 360, which integrates directly with RoboDK through a plugin.
• PLC programming — The team chose to use PLC programming to combine the hardware components. Various RoboDK users have successfully incorporated PLC and offline programming.

Alejandro Rengel, the main programmer of the project, explains what RoboDK allowed him to achieve in this project:

“RoboDK was the essential tool that allowed us to develop the world’s first-ever robotic plane wash. Using CAD-To-Path strategies, we were able to generate robot paths that were adaptive and error-proof.
RoboDK helped me transform from an entry-level programmer into an advanced programmer through their easy-to-use GUI, abundance of training resources, and phenomenal customer service.”

Which RoboDK Features Were Used

Rengel and the team used several of RoboDK’s features to create this unique application. The two robots were programmed to follow paths generated from CAD data while maintaining synchronization between each other.

Jérémy Brouillard, RoboDK’s Lead Product Manager, explains:

“Many RoboDK features were used in this complex project. Wilder Systems used the “teach target on surface” feature to program the first half of the plane. They defined the right washing angles and simply clicked on the plate surface to define the robot trajectories.  To finish it up, they saved half the work by using RoboDK’s Python API to mirror the programs for the second half of the plane.”

RoboDK features that they used include:

• Simultaneous simulation of two robots.
• External axis to extend the robot’s range.
• “Teach on surface” to define the trajectory by simply clicking on the plane’s surface.
• RoboDK’s Python API to generate a mirror of the paths for the opposite side of the plane.
• FANUC post-processor to generate code to run on the robot controller.

What’s Next?

For Wilder Systems, washing is just the start.

The team plans to use this same robotic platform for other sophisticated and time-consuming aircraft maintenance tasks. This includes depainting and repainting, panel drilling, and non-destructive inspection. They will use the robotic washing application as a training opportunity for these future enhancements.

They also plan to further improve the agility of the system by mounting it into a mobile and autonomous platform. This allows them to perform operations throughout the flight line.

What manual tasks currently steal time from your operators? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post RoboDK Software helps cut Aircraft Washing Time by 95% appeared first on RoboDK blog.

To add to this, it is often difficult to find enough skilled workers to carry out the gluing process. With low staff numbers and low productivity, the gluing station can become a bottleneck for the other steps in your manufacturing process.

But, one company noticed a gap in the market. They saw a need for robotic gluing systems that are easy for people to program and use.

By using RoboDK, they provide manufacturers with an easy entry point into the benefits of automated gluing, helping them to reduce waste and improve their processes.

Introducing… DVF Corporation

DVF Corporation is an engineering and manufacturing company based in Maryland, USA. For the last 20 years, they have specialized in technical and fabrication solutions for both industrial customers and the Department of Defense.

In their team, DVF Corporation has specialists in fields like mechanics, electronics, optics, hydraulics, pneumatics…

… and robotics.

They are a preferred integrator for Universal Robots collaborative robots, with which they create integrated solutions to help other manufacturers to improve their processes.

The Problem: Inconsistent Hot Melt Glue

DVF Corporation’s latest project comes with the arresting tagline “Stop Talking, Start Gluing.”

The project is called Robotic Glue Systems and it provides integrated gluing systems to any company that usually dispenses glue by hand, especially for engineered foam packaging.

With this solution, they are trying to solve a persistent problem: inconsistent gluing.

If you have ever manually glued a product, you will know how difficult it is to achieve a consistent gluing pattern. It is especially hard to maintain consistency over a long shift with many gluing operations.

Defective gluing patterns lead to a high scrap rate which means less productivity, more waste, and a higher cost per part.

Jay Wolfe, President of DVF Corp, explains:

“Before this, clients could not rely on precise glue dispensing coming from manual application. The goal was to eliminate scrap and eliminate the need for skilled operators. With our solution, someone puts a part on the table and pushes a button. When complete, they replace it with another blank part.”

DVF Corporation’s Robot Setup

The team at DVF Corporation incorporated their various skillsets to create a system that is simple to deploy and easy to program — the RGS UR1024.

The Robotic Hardware

The core of the setup is a Universal Robots collaborative robot that gives the user the flexibility to use the robot alongside the human operator, without safety fencing.

The System can be configured for hot melt, cold glue or epoxy applications.

The Software Setup

The robot can be programmed using the teach pendant provided by Universal Robots. However, for more flexible programming, the team offers RoboDK for offline programming.

RoboDK allows users to program the robot offline using a simulated robot and tool.

How the Gluing Application Works

Operating the gluing robot is a simple task. When the system is ready, the user only needs to program the desired path into the robot using one of the available options.

There are 2 options for programming:

1. For online programming on the robot, the user can create the program line-by-line using the robot’s teach pendant.
2. For offline programming with more control, RoboDK allows the user to program directly with their CAD files. The program is then loaded into the robot for operation.

Example operating procedure

One of the benefits of gluing with a robot is that it allows the human operator to load the next items to be glued while the robot is performing the current gluing operation.

To do this, you need to program the same gluing pattern at two different locations in the workplace, a task that is very simple to do in RoboDK. You just change the target reference frame for each workpiece.

An example operating setup would be as follows:

1. The operator loads a blank part into Station 1.
2. They press the start button on Station 1.
3. While the program is running, they load a blank part into Station 2.
4. They press the start button on Station 2.
5. As the robot completes the glue dispensing task, the operator assembles the part in Station 1 and removes it.
6. The cycle repeats.

In this way, the operator can achieve a steady cadence of gluing and assembly which results in the gluing operation being carried out continually.

Who is a Gluing Robot Suitable For

Jay Wolfe explains that the gluing station has many potential users:

“Our first two systems went to a company that couldn’t hire enough people to do the work manually. Our main customers fall under the field of “Engineered Foam Products” but really the solution is suitable for anyone who dispenses by hand.”

If you are using already gluing items by hand in your business, a gluing robot could be a useful and productive addition to your operations.

How to Set Up Your Own Gluing Robot

Finally, if you are interested in learning more about Robotic Glue Systems, you can find out more about their solution on their website.

Or, perhaps you are thinking about creating your own gluing station? If so, you will have to do a bit more work to integrate the robotic cell yourself. But, the programming step can be just as simple if you are using RoboDK.

What gluing application do you think would benefit from a robot? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post How DVF Corporation Uses RoboDK for Robotic Gluing appeared first on RoboDK blog.

When we think of handmade products, we often imagine custom-built, highly-intricate items where each piece is necessarily unique. However, many products are handmade just because the production numbers aren’t high enough to warrant using full automation.

In this case study, we show how one group of researchers into industrial plastics used a robot and RoboDK to automate a small-batch manufacturing process.

The problem with many forms of automation is that they require you to have a consistent process running at high throughput. Without this, it often doesn’t make sense to invest in automation as you can’t be confident that you will achieve a return on investment.

When you’ve got a smaller batch project, you might wonder if it’s even possible to automate.

This is the problem that one group of researchers in industrial plastics addressed with their latest robotics project. They were looking for a small, cost-effective way to automate the assembly of plastic hula-hoop toys.

Introducing… ATS2i

The researchers of the French company “Applications Thermoplastiques et Solutions Industrielles Innovantes” (ATS2i) carried out this project. It was led by engineer Alexandre Temporel, who has been working in industrial plastics for over 15 years.

The company specializes in the design and engineering of innovative industrial projects, with specific expertise in the plastics industry. They incorporate a diverse range of manufacturing technologies, including 3D printing, machining, and CNC.

ATS2i looks at projects across the whole life cycle of industrial projects, from research and development and feasibility studies all the way up to design and prototyping.

Part of their scope as a company is to help others to modernize their existing industrial machines through advanced automation.

This is where their hula-hoop robotics project comes in.

The Project: Hula-Hoop Production

The project in question involved the production of plastic hula-hoop toys. This is a good example of a task that is usually carried out by hand in many situations when small batch sizes are required.

The team at ATS2i created their setup as a test to see if robotics could be used to easily automate the assembly stage of hula-hoop production.

What Are Hula-Hoops?

If you’re not familiar with hula-hoop toys, here is a primer…

Hula-hoops have been used as toys for over 2,500 years. To use the hoop, you spin it around your waist, limbs, or neck. Children use them for games and adults as a form of exercise or entertainment. Although hula-hoops have a long history, they significantly rose to popularity in the 1950s.

Most modern hula-hoops are made from plastic tubing, though they were traditionally made from willow, bamboo, or stiff grass.

The Complexity of Manufacturing a Hula-Hoop

As a piece of engineering, hula-hoops are very simple to make. The plastic tube is bent into a circle and the ends are attached together, usually by inserting a double-ended dowel plug.

While they are simple to produce, hula-hoops are not always manufactured at high volume. Unlike the mass-produced versions, smaller artisan makers produce them in small batches.

The task of connecting the ends of the hoops together is a good candidate for automation.

It is a good example of a task that is often required in other areas of plastic manufacturing.

The Robotic Application: Hula-Hoop Assembly

The team’s project involved a simple use of a collaborative robot. As a result, the team performed the task in the workshop without the need for extra safety measures like fencing or safety sensors.

The setup and manufacturing process were reasonably straightforward.

The Robotic Setup

The setup consisted of the following:

• A Universal Robots UR5 collaborative robot.
• An OnRobot gripper.
• RoboDK for robot programming.
• A roll bender jig for bending the plastic tubes.

The team integrated these components into a single robotic cell that took up only as much space as a tabletop.

The Manufacturing Process

The process to create a hula-hoop involved aspects of machine tending (to tend the roll bender) and assembly.

The steps were as follows:

1. Pick up and bend the tube into the roll bender, assuring a 1.5 mm protrusion.
2. Align the ends.
3. Insert the heated glass, useful to melt the ends of the plastic tube.
4. Press the ends of the tube together, fixing them.
5. Wait for the plastic to cool before removing it from the machine.

Programming the Robot with RoboDK

Alexandre Temporel and his team decided to use RoboDK to program the robot. The software is compatible out-of-the-box with UR robots and useful for tasks such as this one.

They first created the setup within the software. With RoboDK’s capability to easily add 3D models, they were also able to add a model of the roll bender. This made it easier to align the robot correctly with the machine.

Given the flexible nature of the plastic tubes, they decided that it made sense not to simulate the hula-hoops in the software. It would only add complexity to the simulation and was unnecessary to create a good program.

You can see the results of their work in this video:

How to Draw Lessons from This for Your Own Application

There are many ways to utilize robotics in your process that don’t require you to go all out and automate everything.

This case study from ATS2i is a good example of an application that is easy to deploy and relieves a repetitive task for small-batch manufacturing.

You might even argue that the product remains essentially handmade as the robot is doing the same job the human would in the same circumstances — i.e. tending the roll bender.

What small-batch task would you like to automate? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post Automate Handmade Products with a Robot? appeared first on RoboDK blog.

The new decade is upon us! This means a new set of robot components will arrive on the market. It also means more choice of which components you can use in your robot cell.

But, with more choice comes more possibilities for confusion. It’s hard to know which robot components are going to be the most important for you and for the wider robotics industry.

Here are 10 robot components that are set to be trends and should be on your radar…

1. Extra Axes

Traditionally, industrial robots have been limited to 6 axes or fewer. However, this limitation no longer exists. Additional axes are now more readily available than they have ever been before, making robot machining even more flexible.

The increase of axes is also a trend in the wider CNC machining industry. According to Xometry’s CNC Trends of 2020, recently “there have been improvements to machining hardware and equipment, making [extra axes] more capable and more affordable than ever before.” This allows manufacturers to reduce the number of setups they have to do and reduce machining costs.

2. Tracks and Wheels

Tracks and wheels are both specific types of extra axes. They provide mobility, which is one of the newest additions to industrial robotics over the past few years. Mobile robots come in all shapes and capabilities, ranging from autonomous mobile robots to industrial robots mounted onto mobile platforms.

Full mobile robots can be challenging to program but a simpler option is to mount the robot onto a single axis or multi-axis track which can be programmed relatively easily.

3. 3D Vision

Vision has been an important component of robotic systems for decades. For a long time, it was complex and expensive but 3D vision has come a long way over the last decade and it’s now easier to use than ever.

3D vision is the next milestone in robotics. Although there are many systems available, they are still undergoing a process of improvement to make them easy to use.

According to the RoboGlobal 2019 trends report, 3D vision “looks set to explode” in the coming year as various new and established sensor manufacturers continue to improve the technology and demand increases.

4. Grippers

Qualcomm’s Chair of Robotic Systems Henrik Christensen called 2019 “the year of the robotic gripper” due to advancements in both hardware and software gripper technology.

Of course, grippers are certainly nothing new in robotics. However, over the last year, we’ve seen a lot of new grippers and manipulation applications. It doesn’t look like it will slow down. We’ve even seen some innovative robotic end effectors which look like they come from the future. They allow for grasping an even wider range of objects than was previously possible.

5. Tooling

Tooling options (e.g. drilling, milling, cutting) are getting better and more readily available every year. This is a great benefit both to manufacturers who use traditional CNC machines and to those who use robot machining.

Robot machining is an increasingly popular option for manufacturers. A robot can even outperform a CNC machine, especially in terms of their increased workspace, flexibility, and affordability. The rise in tool types and universal fixturing means that you can achieve a huge variety of machining operations with very little fuss.

6. Cobots

Collaborative robots (aka cobots) are certainly popular right now. Over the last decade, they have gone from being of “questionable curiosity” to now being one of the most talked-about types of robot.

Cobots are basically normal industrial robots which have had safety measures added to make them safe to operate around humans with no safety fencing.

There are a ton of different cobots out there from a range of manufacturers, including big names such as ABB, Fanuc, and KUKA, to more specialist manufacturers like AUBO, Kinova, and Precise. Many of them can be found in our Robot Library.

7. Safe End Effectors

Continuing on the topic of safety, safer end effectors are also gaining popularity at the moment. These can range from the simple vacuum grippers to unique, deformable grippers.

The purpose of safe end effectors and tools isn’t only to allow safe operation around humans. Many of them also provide a more delicate touch for handling soft objects, such as soft fruits in the food processing industry.

8. Lasers

The idea of giving a laser to a robot might lead some people to imagine a science-fiction dystopian picture of the future. But, in manufacturing, it is just the next logical extension from a CNC laser cutter and engraver.

Laser marking with robots is growing in popularity due to the need for more traceability of products, for example in the automotive industry.

Programming this type of engraving application is very simple using offline programming and different types of end effector can be used to mark different materials.

9. Small Components

One increasing trend right now is the diminishing size of some robots. There are now robots that go all the way down to the microscopic scale. All of their components are equally small, including grippers, links, and motors.

The smallest robot in our Robot Library is currently the Mecademic R3. It’s not exactly microscopic, but with a reach of only 330mm, it’s pretty tiny for an industrial robot.

This change to smaller scale robots suggests that people are moving away from the general-purpose robots of the past. Instead, they seem to be picking robots that suit the size needed for their specific application.

10. Smart Monitoring

Finally, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a trend that is certainly going to change robotics. Smart monitoring of robots means that they require less maintenance and improves the productivity by reducing downtime.

Whichever new components you choose for your robot, make sure that you are careful to only pick ones that will actually benefit your application. There are a lot of new components out there!

Which components would you like to see in the near futur? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or in the RoboDK Forum.

The post 10 Robot Components That Can Improve Your Setup appeared first on RoboDK blog.