INDUSTRY News
Festo launches a pneumatic cobot
Festo launches its first pneumatic cobot, with a price point “below comparable electrical solutions”, according to Festo’s Head of Marketing & Product Management, NW Europe, Steve Sands.
Unlike electric solutions, no heavy gear units or expensive force-torque sensors are needed, with direct drives in the articulated joints being cost-effective and lightweight, too. The cobot’s sensitivity, weight and price are credited to the pneumatics.
Festo’s pneumatic cobot currently handles payloads to 3kg, but the company plans adding to its range.
“Right now, we’re only focusing on the sales release of this first Festo cobot in 2023. In the future we expect to extend our portfolio – e.g., higher payloads and further reach,” said Sands.
The Festo cobot consists of the hardware, a handheld module and software for commissioning and programming. The cobot can be set up in under an hour, without the need for prior knowledge of robotics. Pneumatic drives enable the robot arm to be guided easily by hand and without any resistance so that waypoints or paths can be taught quickly and precisely.
The foundations for the cobot were laid at Festo many years ago: the company used its extensive pneumatic knowhow, combined with expertise in controlled pneumatics, including piezo technology, to develop its new cobot. Festo first presented the idea ten years ago, and founded the “Project Unit Robotic” in 2019, when the development activities on the pneumatic cobot started.
ABB COLUMN WHY IT’S TIME TO RECRUIT A ROBOT
The impact of Covid-19, Brexit, supply-chain shortages and an increasingly turbulent consumer market are putting businesses across the manufacturing, distribution and retail value chain under pressure to find new ways to insulate themselves against uncertainty. For many, this means adapting from using just-in-time business models to
alternative approaches better suited to coping with ‘what if’ scenarios, ensuring they have the fundamentals in place to carry on when things get tough.
As a way of enabling business to quickly adapt their
operations, robotic automation is becoming an increasingly attractive solution for helping to cope with uncertainty. The latest IFR figures for the UK show that the take up of robots in the UK has grown 77% since 2015, with a particular increase in demand in 2020 as companies took on board some of the lessons from the pandemic. While this is encouraging news, there is still more to be done. Our studies reveal that SMEs are still unsure of how to add automation to their businesses, with many lacking previous experience in robotic automation or in-house skills to support an investment in robots. This is where we can help. We offer a wide range of training
courses to help people develop their skills in programming and operating robots. Furthermore, with developments in robotic technology such as simplified programming, enhanced flexibility and advances in collaborative robots, our solutions are opening new opportunities for companies of all sizes and levels of familiarity to reap the benefits of automation. Robots are ideal for addressing many of the challenges affecting UK industry. Capable of handling a growing range of tasks, from simple assembly through to complex welding operations, the latest generation of robots offer new levels of dflexibility and efficiency in a growing range of applications. If you’re looking for a team member that is fast, flexible and works well alongside your existing workers, maybe it’s time to recruit a robot. See for yourself at
www.abb.com/robotics.
Nigel Platt LBL Manager, UK and Ireland, ABB Robotics
AUT-NOV21-BRITISH ENCODER:AUT-NOV21-BRITISH ENCODER 26/10/2021 13:52 Page 1
automationmagazine.co.uk
Automation | September 2022
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