Industrial Robots of Today

As the tech­nol­o­gy in con­sumer and indus­tri­al prod­ucts advances, so does the tech­nol­o­gy of robots and the process­es that man­u­fac­ture these prod­ucts. Indus­tri­al robots play a large role in the pro­duc­tion and qual­i­ty of many of the prod­ucts, large and small, that we see today.

Changes in Focus of Indus­tri­al Robot Designs

Advances in robot­ics improve the basic con­cepts and designs have been mas­tered by many of the lead­ing robot man­u­fac­tur­ers, includ­ing Fanuc and Motoman. The six-axis indus­tri­al robot arm has become the stan­dard for many indus­tri­al appli­ca­tions. In some appli­ca­tions and man­u­fac­tur­ing plans, more or less axes can be advan­ta­geous depend­ing on the desired out­come. For exam­ple, many indus­tries per­form­ing heavy pal­letiz­ing appli­ca­tions employ four-axis robots that sac­ri­fice repeata­bil­i­ty but han­dle heav­ier pay­loads, such as the Fanuc M‑410. Oth­er indus­tries that require extreme flex­i­bil­i­ty and pre­ci­sion employ robot arms with more axes, such as the Motoman VA1400 robot arm that uses sev­en axes. Much of the focus of today’s designs is placed on greater accu­ra­cy, faster axis speeds, eas­i­er pro­gram­ming, and small­er footprints.

Advances in Technology

Robots today include com­put­er chip and micro­proces­sor man­u­fac­tur­ing and weld­ing in their designs.

An increas­ing num­ber of con­sumer and indus­tri­al prod­ucts uti­lize com­put­er chips and oth­er micro­proces­sors. From children’s toys and video games to auto­mo­biles and indus­tri­al CNC machin­ery, com­put­er chips are being devel­oped to be small­er and hold more infor­ma­tion. Indus­tri­al robots pos­sess the pre­ci­sion to accu­rate­ly move, han­dle, and assem­ble these devices. Many indus­tri­al robot arms have been sealed and designed to work in ​“clean­room” envi­ron­ments, in which micro­proces­sors are often handled. 

Arc weld­ing and spot weld­ing account for many of appli­ca­tions that indus­tri­al robot per­form. Design­ers con­stant­ly try to improve repeata­bil­i­ty, axis speeds, and flex­i­bil­i­ty in robot arms per­form­ing these appli­ca­tions. Some robots are pre­cise to +/- 0.02 mil­lime­ters and can move sev­er­al meters per sec­ond. Due to the advance­ment in tech­nol­o­gy of robots, there is more room for improve­ment in manufacturing. 

For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact Robots​.com rep­re­sen­ta­tives online or at 877−762−6881.