Stäubli has sponsored this post.
For one robotics company that required a more elegant solution for battery power and data connectors, Stäubli CombiTac was the ideal upgrade for the needed higher mating cycles and design flexibility.
Stäubli was first founded in 1892 as a small workshop in Zurich, Switzerland, and today has grown to be an international company headquartered in Pfäffikon, Switzerland. Originally specializing in machinery for the textile industry, the company innovated and grew into three specializations: connectors, robotics and textile machinery.
Stäubli developed its modular connector systems, which combine connectors for power and other media into one coupling. Since then, Stäubli has continued to innovate, releasing the flexible, customizable CombiTac system over 20 years ago. The key to CombiTac’s success lies in Stäubli’s long years of market experience with its proven MULTILAM contact technology. As part of Stäubli’s commitment to innovation, its product solutions are constantly evolving to adapt to users’ needs in terms of simplicity and efficiency.
With CombiTac, the company was able to deliver better value than off-the-shelf connectors—with significantly higher mating cycles, higher power density and highly customizable, modular solutions that can be configured by customers to solve specific challenges. In addition, CombiTac’s durability makes it ideal for tough, heavy-duty applications including AGVs, AMRs, automotive testing and aerospace.
One example of rigorous daily use for the CombiTac system is at IAM Robotics, a logistics robot company. IAM Robotics uses a CombiTac connector to meet the high mating cycles demanded of the batteries used by their autonomous mobile robot platforms.
IAM Robotics specializes in material handling and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that are used in warehouses and distribution centers. Their piece-picking robot, called Swift, is an autonomous mobile platform with a six-axis arm on top, able to pick items from shelves in the same manner as a human worker. The material handling robot, Bolt, is an AMR with attachment points that allow users to mount custom fixtures.
IAM Robotics is led by founders Tom Galluzzo and Vladimir Altman, roboticists trained at the Carnegie Mellon National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC). Galluzzo and Altman also have a background working on robotics projects with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Suffice to say, Galluzzo and Altman know their stuff when it comes to hardware development and the difficult problem-solving that comes with it.
All the autonomous mobile robots designed and manufactured by IAM Robotics have a hot-swappable battery feature. This battery is a field-replaceable battery that can be hot-swapped without downtime, which allows the robot to run for multiple shifts without having to stop and wait to charge. The battery swapping presented a hardware development challenge for Altman. He needed a reliable connector that would withstand the high cycle life required, as well as the high current rating. Not only that, but any solution would need to be reliably available for production.
To solve this problem, Altman started with the usual off-the-shelf component and materials suppliers. But for the power and data connections he needed, there was simply no elegant solution.
“I started just by googling, ‘high power blind mate high cycle life connector,’” said Altman. “We often rely on supplier websites to make sure we can use a solution. Off-the-shelf connectors are widely used and cheap, but we found they couldn’t survive more than 200 cycles.”
Then, Altman stumbled upon Stäubli CombiTac Modular Connector, a customizable modular connector system. CombiTac allows customers to combine a variety of power, signal, data, pneumatic and fluid connections into one connector.
To begin developing a CombiTac solution for the Swift robot’s battery, Altman got in touch with David Marak, sales engineer at Stäubli. David’s knowledge of the available connectors and their specifications made finding the optimal design for the connector a faster, easier process. “We explained what we needed and Marak said, ‘Ok, here’s your configuration.’ It was a timesaver to go to specialists right away,” said Altman.
Stäubli also supports CombiTac configuration with an online configurator tool, which guides the customer through a wizard to select from all the options, including housings, pins, connectors and more. As you navigate the configurator, it generates a 3D model of your connector, including male and female ends. The tool also allows users to add boreholes, order the entire cable harness and other additional options. At the end of the configurator, the data sheets for each element of the custom connector are displayed, and an order can be placed. When IAM Robotics ordered custom connectors for their robots, Stäubli generated a unique part number.
Of course, Altman didn’t start by looking for a partner, a slick configurator tool or service expertise. To solve his hardware development problem, he was looking for two things: mating cycles and power ratings. “I only care about the rating, mating and price. If I know there is an alternative that meets my checkboxes, it’s totally fine,” said Altman.
Specifications were most important. CombiTac products are designed for very high mating cycles—up to 100,000. For Altman, that was a critical selling point. “The number one feature that led us to go with Stäubli: this connector is rated for hundreds of thousands of cycles. If I use this connector, I don’t have to change it for the life of the robot. In addition, it meets the high current rating. So, it checks all the checkboxes,” said Altman. “Anything else I could use would cost me a lot more.”
In addition to the mating cycles, power rating and price, Altman also considered the reputation of the supplier. “I want to make sure that whoever supplies the solution is a reliable company that isn’t going to close the doors in 20 years,” said Altman. Sourcing a part from a less established company can lead to headaches down the road, as you may wind up trying to support your products with parts that can no longer be ordered, from a supplier that no longer exists.
To find the best quality connector for the battery on the Swift robot, Stäubli’s premium flexible modular connector CombiTac was IAM Robotics’ solution. CombiTac’s flexibility and quality, including market-leading mating cycles and power density, make it the best solution for connections in a range of heavy-duty industries where harsh environments are a reality—from warehouses, to factories, to space, as well as any other environment that requires dependable and rugged equipment.
For more on Stäubli CombiTac’s modular connectors, visit the Stäubli website.