An industrial robot is an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator that is programmable in three or more axes. Today, industrial robots are used for a variety of different manufacturing applications including:
- Welding
- Painting
- Assembly
- Packaging
- Product inspection and testing
Industrial robots are used in manufacturing because of their high endurance, speed and precision. For example, an industrial robot that is about the size of a person can quickly and easily carry a load that is over one hundred pounds. Industrial robots can perform this function over and over again for twenty four hours a day, every day, without failure. Even though they can be reprogrammable, industrial robots are usually programmed once and then repeat the same task for many years.
Typically the term industrial robot refers to a robot arm that is used in a factory environment for a variety of different manufacturing applications. Industrial robots are classified according to a variety of different criteria such as type of movement, application, architecture and brand. The type of movement is governed by the placement and type of joints and linkages. Industrial robots with different types of movement include:
- Cartesian Robots
Cartesian robots can perform three translations using linear slides. - SCARA Robots
SCARA robots can perform three translations as well as a rotation around a vertical axis. - 6 Axis Robots
6 axis robots can fully position their tool in a given position and orientation. - Redundant Robots
Redundant robots are able to position their tool in a given position under different postures. - Dual Arm Robots
Dual arm robots are composed of two arms that are able to work together on a given work piece.
There are three main components that make up the anatomy of an industrial robot; the manipulator, the EOAT and the controller. The manipulator is the long jointed arm and wrist of a robot. It allows the robot to extend, turn and reach. The EOAT or End of Arm Tooling is attached to the robots wrist and manipulates the specific parts of the robot depending on the application that the robot was designed for. The controller acts as the brain of the robot and provides it’s much needed application support. The controller runs the intricate computations needed to manipulate its EOAT in order to perform its particular functions.
Bay Industrial Group offers manufacturers solutions that solve a variety of complex manufacturing challenges. For more information please contact Bay Industrial Group today.