technology | Automation Right: Collaborative
robots – cobots – can work without
guarding along- side human
operators, says Universal
Robots’ Mark Gray
for simple pick-and-place, the company is now also seeing more requests for vision-enabled robots for quality inspection purposes. “Take a plastic car dashboard, for instance. These are often fitted with up to 40 plastic clips and foam inserts. Each one is typically inspected manually, which can be subject to human error. Using a cobot with a camera, however, the process becomes fool-proof. Another increasingly frequent demand relates to the ease of implementing a seventh axis, typically in the form of a horizontal or vertical linear rail,” he says. Recent developments at Universal Robots include
Below: Universal
Robots is in the front line of cobot imple- mentation; robots that cooperate with human workers
the introduction of its UR+ online showroom platform, which makes the creation of a robot application less of a trial and error process. The company says that it achieves this by providing access to accessories verified to work optimally with UR robots, such as grippers, software, sensors, vision cameras and accessories. The platform is expected to feature around 100 UR+ solutions by the end of 2017. According to German automation components manufacturer Festo, one of the partners in the UR+ process, this solution enables UR customers to bring seven-axis systems to market faster and with a smaller design overhead. In addition, Universal Robots has implemented ATI’s
Axia80 force/torque sensor technology. In contrast with traditional load cells, which operate on a single axis and only measure force, the Axia80 technology senses torque and side loads on all six axes. “In many ways, using the Axia80 is similar to a handshake,” Gray says.
“The force/torque sensor measures touch and feel, and gives life to robots. For factories wanting to get deeper into automation, UR cobots can use these sensors to do more of what those human labourers accomplish in terms of dexterity and efficiency. The UR+ platform allows ATI to fully integrate force/torque sensors with the robots, making it very simple for customers to program force-guided applications.” Canadian gripper technology firm Robotiq has been
working with Universal Robots since 2012. It’s newest UR+ product is the Dual Gripper, which is aimed specifically at machine-tending operations. The company says that having two grippers on the same UR cobot can save manufacturers cycle time, create a more efficient production line, and provide the potential to increase output. According to Gray, connectivity is the biggest focus
for future development. “This would mean not only having cobots that interact with machines visually, as a human would, but having configuration information and instructions stored in a cloud, turning the cobot into an AI-powered machine that can send, store and receive data. Such a solution would be able to provide real-time production analytics for end users, so they could monitor
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PHOTO: UNIVERSAL ROBOT
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