Which is Better? Scara vs. Cartesian Robots

Choos­ing between Scara and Carte­sian robots can be dif­fi­cult. Both styles pro­vide excel­lent solu­tions for pick and place, assem­bly, and pack­ag­ing appli­ca­tions, but each robot has unique fea­tures and advan­tages. By under­stand­ing these dif­fer­ences, and care­ful­ly eval­u­at­ing your work space, appli­ca­tion, and prod­uct, you can make the best decision.

Con­sid­er Your Work Enve­lope:
The SCARA or Selec­tive Com­pli­ant Assem­bly (or Artic­u­lat­ed) Robot Arm robot pro­vides a cir­cu­lar work enve­lope. This broad move­ment range allows for added flex­i­bil­i­ty. Scara robots have a small foot­print and can be built on a small­er scale.

Carte­sian robots work from an over­head grid. Also known as gantry robots, this type of robot is an accu­rate, quick solu­tion for mate­r­i­al han­dling appli­ca­tions. Its work enve­lope is rec­tan­gu­lar. The work enve­lope is deter­mined by the grid — so it can be quite large. The Carte­sian robot­’s over­head grid can take up over­all room, but does free up floor space.

Assess Move­ment:
The Scara robot pro­vides more flex­i­bil­i­ty than the Carte­sian robot. Its cir­cu­lar work enve­lope is cre­at­ed by 4‑axis motions. While rigid, the Scara robot can move with more flex­i­bil­i­ty in a hor­i­zon­tal plane. Depend­ing on the appli­ca­tion, a Scara can per­form with more speed than a Carte­sian robot.

The Carte­sian style robot is capa­ble of X, Y, Z direc­tion­al move­ments. Its rigid­i­ty allows for more pre­ci­sion. Easy to pro­gram and ide­al for appli­ca­tions that require move­ments such as straight line inser­tions, the Carte­sian robot is a strong, depend­able mover.

Keep Your Part in Mind:
How big or small is your prod­uct? All the joints on a Scara robot are locat­ed at the end of the arm, lim­it­ed pay­load capac­i­ty. Scara robots are best for small­er sized parts.

Carte­sian robots, on the oth­er hand, are an excel­lent choice for larg­er parts. Their pay­load is larg­er and ful­ly sup­port­ed. Because of they work from a grid, Carte­sian robots pro­vide bet­ter acces­si­bil­i­ty to larg­er parts.

Remem­ber Pro­tec­tion Needs:
Scara robots can be safe­guard­ed from haz­ardous envi­ron­ments. All their joints can be pro­tect­ed and they can be sealed for under­wa­ter appli­ca­tions. Carte­sian robots, on the oth­er hand, require spe­cial cov­er­ing when work­ing in haz­ardous envi­ron­ments. They are not able to work underwater.

Con­tact Robots​.com rep­re­sen­ta­tives online or at 877−762−6881 with addi­tion­al ques­tions about Scara and Carte­sian robots.