Pneumatic Grippers use for Collaborative Robot.

 

The purpose of this article is to discuss the use of final effectors, especially grippers on collaborative robots. Such collaborative robots are often called 'cobots'. To talk specifically about the final effector of cobot, we need to identify what is a cobot?

The simple definition of the word collaboration is: "Working with someone to generate or create something." This is the exact purpose of a collaborative robot or cobot. Cabots generally have limited power and force. The robot may feel abnormal force on the road and can be programmed to stop when reading overloads in terms of force. The cobot are designed to disperse forces when a shock is applied to a large surface. As a result, cobots can be used to collaborate directly with workers for a variety of tasks. Cobots can work with anyone without additional security measures.

Cobots are generally adaptable and practically plug and play. This means that the user does not need much experience to program and apply the device effectively. Some companies are using them because they can be placed with people. Others are applying cobots due to its very easy programming, fast uptime and great flexibility. As a result, these devices are not always used in a collaborative environment.

Regardless of how and why you use a collaborative robot, you must have some kind of final effector to do the job. This final effector comes in many forms, including suction cups, gripper and other special tools.

Vacuum cups are ideal for picking up parts that generally require very little flat registration. This is a relatively inexpensive way to grab pieces. The use of vacuum cups is limited by the weight of the parts being processed and the speed of acceleration and deceleration of the robot. The greater the weight of the piece, the higher the rate of acceleration and deceleration that can cause the piece to slide. Mechanical calipers are more suitable for heavy parts with high acceleration and deceleration rates.

The mechanical grippers provide a positive part collection and are placed when used as final effectors in collaborative robots. Such clamps are generally driven by electric or pneumatic.

The electric gripper is very flexible with a long jaw travel and can be programmed for different travel lengths. Ideal for applications where piece size and shape change regularly. There are 2 and 3 jaw versions. Some manufacturers of electric clamps offer 'applications' that are installed in the teaching pendant of a collaborative robot that can program the clamp as part of the robot. Some of these electric clamps incorporate several types of touch sensors, tidal control. Small engines are generally used to keep the caliper's weight as low as possible. This small engine limits the assistance generated by the caliper. The deceleration of the gear allows for greater force, which limits the speed at which the jaws open and close. This affects the overall cycle time of the cobot.

The pneumatic gripper provides a simple jaw opening and closing position compared to the programmability of the electric gripper. Pneumatic grippers are ideal for applications with relatively consistent sizes and shapes of parts. In most cases, the pneumatic gripper is lighter because it does not include an on-board engine. Pneumatic clamps can provide greater grip strength depending on the input air pressure provided. Most of these grippers come without extended jaw tools. This allows the user to create tools and shape or encapsulate the shape of the piece being processed. This jaw tool is easy to build and can also be created with today's modern 3D printers. By encapsulating the part with jaw tools, the clamp can be operated at a lower air pressure, which is ideal when the cobot is used in a human collaborative environment. The lower the air pressure, the less power and less risk of injury. As mentioned earlier, many collaborative robots are applied due to easy-to-use phrases in human collaborative environments. In this case, the pneumatic clamp operates at high pressure, which produces a greater grip and allows the use of smaller and lighter clamps. This has a positive effect on the total payload of the cobot.

There are a variety of applications where pneumatic clamps are the ideal and cost effective end effectors in human collaborative robots. For example, there are plastics manufacturers that produce large quantities of high quality injection molded products. Manufacturers prefer to pick up and place parts, as expensive passages are ejected from the mold and fall into the conveyor. This particular part has very few variations that are very similar in size and shape. Collaboration robots were chosen to perform this download function due to the ease of programming and the ability to place pieces in rows to proceed to the next process.

The manufacturers of plastic parts can use pneumatic clamps due to small deviations in the size of the piece. Jaw tools that fit the part can be produced in a 3D printer and encapsulate expensive parts so that they do not fall out while being removed from the mold. In this case, the plastic manufacturer did not need touch sensors or reprogrammable positions or movements of the caliper jaw. The use of pneumatic clamps in cobots can save you the investment required for process automation.

When choosing a final effector for a collaborative robot, weigh all the elements it contains. The weight of the piece, the speed, the required precision and the differences in the size and shape of the piece are factors to consider. If there are few deviations in the size and shape of the piece, and you need precision placement, pneumatic grippers may be the most cost effective option.