Robotics are an ideal technology for fine assembly tasks, such as those in the electronics industry.
In the video above, we look at a new collaborative robot, or cobot, solution for assembly applications: the Kawasaki duAro.
“The duAro is an eight-axis collaborative robot,” said Max Falcone, senior manager of systems engineering at Kawasaki Robotics USA Inc. “We do full force, torque and speed monitoring through our Cubic S device, which is a Class Four safety rated device within the robot. The robot itself has a full fieldbus capability, so we support Ethernet IP, several slave modules, CC-Link and DeviceNet as well, so we can incorporate things like screw feeders and screw guns very easily.”
With a diverse array of compatible end effectors, the duAro can edge-grip PCBs to avoid disturbing surface-mounted components as well as switch end effectors and tools quickly and on the fly, as demonstrated in the video.
Fixturing for the duAro is simplified and the two-arm design allows for increased application flexibility, Falcone explained.
“The idea is to break everything down to its lowest common denominator, using a lot of crowding type fixturing to crowd corners into places, use both arms working together. One of the unique things is you can operate the robot as two separate units to do two tasks at the same time, or bring both arms together to perform one task.”
The duAro also has a fully integrated vision system that can perform 2D guidance and inspection of parts. The Kawasaki cobot is also capable of performing sealing, potting, gasketing and functionality inspections.
The cobot has a 2kg payload per arm, for a total of 4kg payload with both arms working together, and can achieve 0.05mm repeatability.
For more information on the duAro cobot, watch the video above and visit the Kawasaki Robotics website.