A
Fanuc industrial robot system won top honors at the 2007 Robot Award ceremony on December 20
th in Tokyo. The dual-robot system was designed specifically for food and pharmaceutical
handling applications with nimble, food-safe
M-430iA robots and visual tracking.
This is the second year for the Robot Award event. It was created by the Japanese government's Ministry of Economy,
Trade, and Industry (METI) to promote innovation and spark interest in the
robotics field. Last year's top robot honor went to a robotic seal designed to help the elderly.
This year's
Fanuc winner was selected because of its usefulness. Each of the
M-430iA robots is capable of moving 120 1kg parts per minute or 100 2kg parts per minute. The system demonstrated the speed and intelligence of
industrial robots as they selected parts from a conveyer belt and placed them in boxes. The robots have five axes of freedom, a 2kg payload capacity, and a 900mm horizontal reach.
The
M-430iA robots are versatile options for both packaged and unpackaged food
handling applications. Designed for withstand the messiest applications and the harshest rinse-downs, the
M-430iA/2F robots have internal wiring, a double IP67 seal, food grade grease, and USDA-certified parts.
This isn't the first prize awarded to
Fanuc's famous robot. The
M-430iA also won the 2006 Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun Best Ten
New Products Award.
