Collaborative robotic installations are repeatable,
reliable and provide an environment where humans and robots can coexist
work together. This has definitely brought many new users and solutions to the
to increase productivity, but in some cases there are limits to what
can be achieved. In terms of the flexibility and sophistication of the application.
However, the latest developments in collaborative robots and their control technologies
seem to be changing that and a new paradigm for speed and flexibility
to be defined in cobot workplaces.
With cobots programmed to perform predefined
movements and actions, the automation solution is reliable and
repeatable, but not flexible. That's right, flexibility comes from the
ability to have robots that, instead of following predefined paths,
follow, be able to make movement decisions themselves, intelligently selected from
multiple options. The result is cobot workstations that are not only repeatable
are, but also flexible and optimized.
Setting up predefined motion paths can
however, require significant programming effort, plus the associated
simulation, testing and evaluation. When we talk about ultimate flexibility,
we don't want predefined movement paths, but rather dynamic
defined motion paths. Creating a collision-free environment with
However, conventional technologies would require a gigantic programming feat
require.
Eliminate the risk of collisions
The solution lies in the same technologies that are
used in industrial robot cells. These technologies can provide a
higher speed and flexibility for cobot work environments. Mitsubishi in particular
Electric and Realtime Robotics have collaborated to simplify robotics
and accelerate automation in unstructured and dynamic
environments.
The customized solution combines the collaborative robots of
Mitsubishi Electric with Realtime control and programming technologies
Robotics. It is built around the Realtime motion planning accelerator hardware
and RapidPlan makes the software. RapidPlan makes manual motion planning
redundant, which significantly reduces the time and costs involved
multi-robot cells. The specialized software enables robots to process millions
evaluate alternative motion paths to avoid collision and choose the
optimal route before it moves – all in milliseconds.
This can provide a complete solution in a structured
environment if unplanned events do not have to be taken into account
obstacles. But in a collaboration with a human operator, an unknown variable
which must be taken into account. Here installations can use
making Realtime Robotics' RapidSense technology, which provides the functionality
from RapidPlan expands with up to 8 3D cameras to create a merged
point cloud. At runtime, it senses the unknown objects
and generates paths to avoid any contact.
With RapidPlan and RapidSense in a cobot environment, users can
reap the benefits of optimized work cells. The technology makes the
use of a PLC is unnecessary and if a cobot has to be placed in the cell
for maintenance, automatic adjustments are made to prevent unplanned
minimize or prevent cell failure. More importantly, this is
all delivered with a simplified set-up, with Mitsubishi Electric and
Real-time Robotics can provide up to a 10x reduction in initial programming and implementation
save time.
Multi-robot work cells
The further cooperation between Mitsubishi Electric and
Realtime Robotics paves the way for multi-robot work cells that both
industrial robots combine, as specially designed collaborative robots to
to work alongside people. It builds on the existing initiative between the two
companies to have robots work together in environments where there may be
unplanned obstacles, with the robots dynamically planning around the
obstacles in their workspace.
Bringing these new technologies to collaborative
installations result in improved precision, speed and load capacity.
The new solution is the key to unlocking the productivity promise
of cobot installations it seemed so temptingly close for so long and yet so far away
