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Developments in safe collaboration between robots and humans come without sacrificing capability.
April’s Automate show in Chicago was notable for the unveiling by Stäubli Corporation of its new TX2 six-axis articulated robots. The collaborative robots, or ‘cobots’ as they have been termed, are designed to function safely in close proximity with human workers, and have been capturing the imagination of many plastics processors. Stäubli’s latest breakthrough is designed to overcome the problems usually associated with cobots, in particular lower speed and payload capacity.
Robotics Div. Manager with Stäubli, Sebastien Schmitt, discussed the significance of his company’s progress using the five levels of Man-Robot Collaboration. MRC-1, the standard set-up, involves the robot operating inside a cage with no human contact, whereas MRC-2 and MRC-3 do not rely on guarding, instead utilising electronic sensors. These are capable of slowing the robot to a safe-operating speed should a human reach a certain proximity, and stopping the robot altogether should the human become closer still. MRC-4 extends this concept, the robot halting operation immediately upon contact with a human, or hard obstacle, whilst MRC-5, the highest level, involves manual guidance by the human, the robot becoming effectively an extension of them, but without lowering payload capacity.
The innovate TX2 series cobots can be programmed to operate in all five levels, and come with a new CS9 safety control and integrated safety board. Sensors monitor every motion, and the position co-ordinates, speed, and acceleration are recorded in real time. Schmitt has described them as “the world’s fastest safe robot.”