Acquiring an assembly robot entails considering several factors. The basics of this consideration lie in the difference in types of assembly robots in the market.
Additionally, the robotics world has a chunk of sellers and products to choose from. You may, hence, find it difficult to select the most appropriate type of robot.
Therefore, before spending on a robot, conduct internal research while determining the role you need the robot for. Next, consider the amount of space you have. Also, look into how the robot will work with humans for maximum output.
Then, ensure you are ready with robotic preliminaries like electric power and fencing, where necessary. Having addressed the above issues, let’s take a deep dive into the traits of a typical assembly robot.
Before examining into the qualities, here are two knowledge bases to grasp. First, assembly line automation involves the use of robots to sequentially break the steps of industrial manufacturing. For example, gathering parts in car manufacturing.
Secondly, there are five main types of robots that you can apply in industrial assembly. These are SCARA, cylindrical, delta, articulated, and cartesian robots. Let’s find out why you should choose a type of robot and ignore the rest.
Load
The amount of substance to hold determines the type of robot assembly technology to apply. For instance, you should invest in articulated robots if you handle heavy loads during the assembly process.
A typical articulated robot, here, is a 6-Axis robot. Besides, you can buy a cartesian robot and customize it accordingly.
Considering the amount of load is important because overloading a robot arm can cause accidents. For instance, if a robot arm breaks, it destroys other products within the line.
This leads to the halting of production. Clogging machine parts may damage the parts. You may end up overspending on repairs; something you could have avoided.
Speed
Depending on the type of end product, you may consider the speed of the robotic arm. For example, producing highly perishable goods may demand that you purchase delta robots. They are faster than the other assembly robots.
If you find it difficult to afford delta robots due to their comparatively higher prices, you can go for SCARA robots. They are faster than most assembly robots such as cartesian and cylindrical robots.
Orientation
The orientation of an assembly robot closely relates to its speed and precision. However, let’s consider it in terms of other efficiencies such as the ability to last and produce quality work.
For instance, all-in-one robots like SCARA and 6-Axis robots enable you to scale production since they can adjust to various assembling processes. This, also, enables them to realize high flexibility and is less accident-prone due to their adjustability to a workplace.
Environment
How much workspace can you dedicate to a robot? If you have a small working area, you should consider buying SCARA or cylindrical robots.
Since most assembly robots are less human-friendly, you may as well consider fencing their workspace. This minimizes accidents that they may cause on human employees. Such accidents may include knocking employees on their lines of action.
Closely related workspace is travel. Technically, this may be a working envelope. That’s the radius within which a robotic arm can rotate comfortably. Most articulated robots demand a large travel zone for their arms when in operation.
Precision
Different production lines require varying accuracy. Consequently, precision varies per type of robot.
If you need the utmost precision, you can buy delta robots since they have some of the most accurate arms in the robotics market.
Final Thoughts
Investing in assembly robots is one of the best decisions you can ever make if you want to propel your return on investment.
However, without a well-calculated move, you may end up regretting your expenditure. Therefore, you should analyze your firm’s internal environment with the robot’s characteristics— before buying the robot.