After product development reaches its final stage, then begins one of the most exciting and rewarding stages, benchmarking. Testing the performance and toughness of servo gripper is crucial to ensure we meet the required specs and provide the highest degree of reliability required for industrial automation.

To continue the collaborative robot series: this time we look at the Light Weight Robot 4+ (LWR 4+) from KUKA.

The next review for our Collaborative Robots Series is for Universal Robots. Introduction, key features and challenges are examined. 

Since the release of Universal Robots' UR5 and UR10, we are compelled to admit the great fit of these robots with our 2-Finger and 3-Finger Adaptive Robot Grippers. Indeed, this Spring robots from Universal have become one of the most popular platform (in terms of sales) for our electric grippers.

Robotiq unveils the new 2-Finger Adaptive Robot Gripper – 200 – an electric gripper with 200 mm of stroke with expanded capabilities.

When writing with a pencil, you hold the tool at a specific angle of approach to the paper, but can you figure out at which axis, angle, and plane, the pencil is actually being held? The change in approach angle when writing with a pencil is similar to coordinating multiple axis movements for a robotic welding torch. It is always more intuitive to hold the tool than to mathematically note its position in free space.

We continue our review of the newest collaborative robots on the market with Baxter from Rethink Robotics: Introduction, key features and challenges.

Robotic welding is most useful when parts can be positioned in the same place, and with the same fit, every time a part feeder reloads the system. However, robotic welders are not always as successful in terms of quality control if the weld joints vary in size, present gaps, or vary in dimensions. The following recommendations on part fit can enable robotic welders to achieve higher quality yield:

We previously explained on our Robotiq blog how Universal Robots and Robotiq Adaptive Grippers are a good fit:

It is no longer a secret: automation processes are no longer reserved for big companies doing highly repetitive tasks. Automation is now also moving to the world of the SME, in domains such as stamping, metal fabrication, machining, assembling and all kinds of processes to provide good quality parts to the major players. But being a SME in this situation means: