Lightweight and collaborative robots are quite popular in the robotic industry. They can be used for several applications such as machine tending, assembly lines and packaging/palletizing. These robots are known to be flexible and can be adapted to a lot of situations. The Universal Robots platform has had a lot of success during the past year with its easy to use software interface and quick installation. Also, it fits well with flexible robotics applications. As the Robotiq 2-Finger 85 Adaptive Gripper has the same functionalities, it is intuitive to retrofit one with the other. So, we have developed a package that is unique to this collaborative robot to help the end user fit both super easily.
Universal Robots Package
If you are interested in matching a UR robot with a 2-Finger 85, you should get the Robotiq package for UR from your robotic dealer. This kit provides specific mechanical and software components to make things easier for the installation and use of the Robotiq Gripper with Universal Robots. The kit includes: a 2-Finger 85 Adaptive Gripper, a custom mechanical coupling for UR, all the necessary screws and wiring for installation and software packages. With this kit you don’t have to buy anything else to make your robot functional.
Mechanical Fit
Some of robot grippers on the market today have complex ways to fit the robot wrist and the end effector together by adding extra adapter plates to another one. We have developed a standard coupling to fit Universal Robots' wrist and the 2-Finger 85 Adaptive Gripper. This mechanical coupling is thin, but strong, so the Gripper is not far away from the robot wrist. Watch the installation video to get more information on the fixing method.
Software Fit
The software and Gripper fit is easy to do, you only have to configure a new IP address in the Universal Interface and the Robot Gripper is ready to use. The software has been designed to make programming it easy and intuitive. The programmer can use the pre-built functions to create specific motions. As we wanted to follow the same intuitive programing method, we have built some functions that are specific to the Universal Robots Interface and that can be integrated easily into the robot's program. For example subroutines have been made to open the Robot Gripper, close the Gripper and grasp an object. The force, speed and width of the opening can be controlled in every subroutine by using a bit notation between 0-255.
To download the free software package here.
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