A new era in automation has begun. Smart, flexible, collaborative robots (cobots) will change the face of productivity and manufacturing in Australia. Able to work alongside humans without the need for safety guarding (subject to risk assessment), cobots open vast new applications for robot technology. They are easily integrated into existing production environments, and the tasks they are suited for are wide-ranging.
Traditionally, industrial robots have been developed and intended mainly for mass production involving long product life cycles. However, in fields where new models are introduced frequently at intervals of a few months, automation is considered difficult despite demand for robotisation, in terms of both preparation period and cost-effectiveness.
However, RTA robotics supplier Kawasaki has developed a brand-new robot that is applicable to such fields, the innovative, dual-arm ‘duAro’ SCARA robot. The new “duAro” robot’s area of motion is the same as that of a person, with motions similar to those of human arms and independent movements for each arm, made possible because of its dual-arm configuration. The duAro’s arm is 76 cm long, similar to an average person’s working range.
This collaborative robot has two arms that reach horizontally from the body and that move together as a pair. This configuration can easily perform operations similar to those of a person using both arms within a one-person space.
Dual-arm SCARA collaborative robots work well with people.
Low-power motors and a speed-reducing function helps the duAro to coexist with people in customers’ work operations. Equipped with a collision detection function and a safety function that slows down its motion when near a person, the robot can be reliably operated in tandem with the operations of workers adjacent to the machine.
The duAro dual-arm robot, with its two coaxial arm configuration that is controlled by a single controller makes it possible to perform coordinated movement. The wheeled base on which the arms are placed accommodates the controller and enables the user to move the robot to any desired location.
Direct teaching by holding the robot’s arms allows the user to easily teach the robot the movements required of them.
Robot Technologies-Systems Australia Pty Ltd (RTA) is Australia’s leading systems integrator of turnkey robotics automation solutions. For over 30 years, RTA has helped customers to transform their operations and step forward into growth equipped with the latest industrial, factory and process automation technologies.
Robot Technologies-System Australia will be exhibiting at Stand o34 along side Accuweigh Accupak at foodpro 2017.