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CHICAGO — Yaskawa Motoman last week showed several offerings bundling its robots with vision and controls to help manufacturers adopt automation. They included collaborative and industrial robots, as well as workcells for applications such as welding and palletizing.
“Sophisticated demands and shifting markets are transforming the industrial landscape, necessitating the need for smart technology and easy-to-use robots that can help companies of all sizes easily adapt to changing manufacturing requirements,” said Yaskawa.
Founded in 1989, the Motoman Robotics Division of Yaskawa America Inc. provides systems for applications including assembly, coating, dispensing, materials handling, material cutting and removal, packaging, and clinical laboratory specimen processing.
Dayton, Ohio-based Yaskawa America Inc. touted its 4.7 (out of 5.0) approval rating in its 2023 Customer Satisfaction Survey.
“This level of performance is a direct result of a dedicated, highly experienced team focused on executing sound strategies, producing quality solutions, and delivering world-class support,” stated Steve Barhorst, president and chief operating officer of Yaskawa Motoman. “This achievement validates that our corporate commitment to customer support, combined with extra efforts by all employees, results in satisfied customers.”
Yaskawa contributes to cobot welding cells
Yaskawa showed how its collaborative robot arms are becoming easier to use and reprogram for multiple applications. The company designed the six-axis HC-Series cobots to supplement manual welding.
With partner ARC Specialties, the company demonstrated its AR1440 system for high-speed arc welding. The six-axis robot has an expanded wrist motion range and a 12 kg (26.4 lb.) payload capacity. It also supports the featured DINSE REVO liquid-cooled rotary torch, which has a built-in slip ring for continuous rotation when deep in the bore.
Yaskawa claimed that the combination of a robust 360° rotary torch, a Miller welding package, its own Universal Weldcom Interface (UWI) pendant application, and ARC Specialties’ programming expertise provides manufacturers with a high-production cladding option. It also minimizes requirements for programming and startup, it said.
The ArcWorld HC is a portable shop for human-collaborative interaction for medium- or low-volume runs. It includes the HC10DTP cobot, which has a 1,379 mm (54. in.) maximum reach and a 10 kg (22 lb.) payload capacity.
Power and force-limiting (PFL) technology allows for safe operations and hand-guided programming without a teach pendant, said Yaskawa. UWI works with multiple digital welding power supplies and allows for easy control of weld processes or parameters, it noted.
For smaller parts, Yaskawa’s ArcWorld LC system is designed for fabricators with lighter volume requirements. The workstation is configured for wide parts and includes a fixed tooling table with a 250 kg (551 lb.) payload or a servo-driven MH185 headstock with a 185 kg (407.8 lb.) payload.
ArcWorld has a 2,125 x 2,097 mm (83.6 x 82.5 in.) footprint, and a dual configuration is available. The system can fit in a trailer and includes a single AR1440 robot using the UWI.
In addition, Novarc exhibited the NovEye weld monitoring and control system, which enables a robot to adapt a programmed path based on characteristics of the weld puddle for a proper weld.
Yaskawa also offers the AR-Series robots for high-speed arc welding. These six-axis robots can handle payloads of 8 to 25 kg (17.6 to 55.1 lb.) and support a wide variety of torches and sensors.
Motoman demos machine tending, bin picking
With computer numerical control (CNC) provider Vista Automation, Yaskawa displayed the ROBOTEND system with the high-speed GP12 robot for machine tending and parcel induction. The robot has a 1,440 mm (56.6 in.) horizontal reach, a 2,411 (94.2 in.) mm vertical reach, and a 12 kg (26.4 lb.) payload capacity.
The GP12 works with patented Smart Frame technology helps determine the user’s orientation relative to the robot. This makes the user the frame of reference, eliminating the use of conventional X, Y, and Z coordinates for a faster learning curve, said Yaskawa.
The cell also included Plus One Robotics‘ PickOne Perception Kit, which promises human-like vision for intelligent 3D scene capturing, as well as pick rates over 1,600 per hour for a wide variety of objects.
Yaskawa also demonstrated a trend of both industrial and collaborative robots becoming more capable. The company said it designed the GP8L robot to optimize throughput in tight production spaces.
The GP8L has a 1,636 mm (64.4 in.) horizontal reach, a 2,894 mm (113.9 in.) vertical reach, and a 8 kg (17.6 lb.) payload capacity. It has an IP54 body and can be mounted on floors, walls, and ceilings or tilted. It has brakes on all axes and is designed to optimize throughput.
A KEYENCE 3D vision system used pattern projections and structured lighting to recognize randomly placed parts for fast and accurate bin picking.
Smart Pendant v3.0 designed to accelerate applications
The GP12 and HC-series robots work with Smart Pendant Version 3.0, which is intended to accelerate application setup. It builds on prior software updates to allow for quick implementation of automated assembly, welding, injection molding, inspection, machine tending, palletizing, and pick-and-place tasks, said Yaskawa.
Smart Pendant, which includes several updates to features such as the YRC1000 controller software that can run on Windows, is available for use with select Yaskawa Motoman YRC-controlled robots.
Palletizing and depalletizing have become popular applications to automate because robots can reduce worker strain from repetitive and heavy movement. The Pallet Builder extension to Yaskawa’s Smart Pendant provides a user interface for “no-code” programming for workcell configuration and setup.
Pallet Builder is designed for high-mix, low-to-medium volume production at small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), with support for up to eight combined stations. Yaskawa said the software can work with a wide variety of end-of-arm tools (EOAT) and requires Smart Pendant v3.0. Pallet Solver is an offline PC-based tool for setting up palletizing routines.
Robot arms get longer and stronger
Joining other heavy-duty cobots at Automate, Yaskawa’s HC30PL has a 30 kg payload and 1,700 mm maximum reach. It is suitable for palletizing and food handling, according to the company.
It offers four modes of collaborative application and can shift between PFL mode for operations around people to full-speed industrial mode to optimize cycle times, based on risk assessments and process requirements.
The palletizing system also includes a plug-and-play tool flange based on EN ISO-9409-1 and a thru-arm Category 6 Ethernet cable. It has an IP67 rating and easy-to-clean surface for NSF H1-certified food-grade grease.
Yaskawa Drives & Motion division part of displays
Yaskawa’s Drives & Motion division also displayed its products at Automate. The iCube Control machine controller has an open design and modular system integration, and “gives developers the freedom to program function modules in the language of their choice,” the company asserted.
The division also showed food-grade and hygienic stainless-steel servo motors for use with its Sigma Series amplifiers complying with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group standards.
Speaking of food and beverage, thirsty conference goers could see the HC10DTP cobot, which was part of the renovated “Yaskawa Pub.”
