Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

FAQ

Why develop exoskeletons?

An exoskeleton is a cobot, but it has an unlimited mobility function, which gives it flexibility and a higher potential usage rate. What springs to mind in particular are payload carrying applications (logistics, machine loading, etc.) for industrial loads up to and over 25 kg, which are very restrictive today.

What is a cobot?

It is a collaborative robot, entirely controlled by humans. A cobot can also be defined as an intelligent manipulator, with some or all of its axes electrically motorised and controlled by the user with sensors.

What can be done with a cobot?

The cobot brings strength and endurance to difficult tasks. For grinding, for example, the cobot A7.15 handles the tool and amplifies your strength to hold the tool. In the case of screwdriving, a cobot will help you to screw self-drilling screws into 3 mm of metal with a maximum force of 3 kg.

Why use a tool manipulator?

The tool manipulator intelligently balances the weight and ergonomic functions of various tools. When employees are not as fatigued, their efforts can be amplified and a company’s productivity can be increased.

Under what circumstances is a tool manipulator used?

Tool manipulators can be used in grinding to avoid the weight of a grinding machine of up to 10 kg. When it comes to sanding, manipulators are also useful for performing other work without effort, for removing dust and avoiding heavy vibrations. Manipulators are of great use for screwing, drilling, clipping, etc.

What is the purpose of an electric manipulator?

The electric manipulator is used to move heavy loads quickly and intuitively. We offer two types of electric manipulators: the tool manipulator and the load manipulator. They are used according to the different movements or loads to be moved.

What are the applications of electric manipulators?

The electric tool manipulator enables intelligent weight balancing and thus reduces the risk of accidents. It is also more productive than a human being because it uses higher-powered tools for grinding, sanding, drilling, clipping and screwing without the load being a problem. The electric load manipulator is a quick and simple solution for handling loads of up to 350 kg in many industry sectors.

What is a precision overhead manipulator?

The overhead manipulator allows very heavy and voluminous loads to be moved without an inertia effect thanks to its 4 motorised axes.

What are the advantages of the overhead manipulator?

This overhead manipulator is compatible with all gripper technologies. It is easy to operate without any particular effort. Thanks to the power and flexibility of its on-board electric motors, it can be set in motion immediately. The operator has an unobstructed view thanks to the position of the specially designed controls. In order to ensure safe starting and stopping, there is an “actuator hand presence” function.

What is a load-bearing manipulator?

A load-bearing manipulator is a cobotic tool used in industry to move heavy loads quickly and intuitively. Depending on the surface to be covered, these electric manipulators are polar or cartesian.

What are the advantages of the load-bearing manipulator?

Load-carrying manipulators allow workers to stop carrying heavy loads. This makes repetitive and tiring tasks easier for them. These devices assist vertical or multidirectional effort thanks to a poly-articulated cobot. Thanks to these machines, the workers are not as tired and much more efficient. Tasks are completed more quickly and the risk of injuries and accidents is greatly reduced.

Why use a cobotic manipulator?

Using a cobotic manipulator makes it possible for humans to move heavy loads very quickly and intuitively. There are cobotic manipulators available in our company that are adapted to the surfaces to be covered and the desired movements.

A very high-quality cobotic manipulator?

These manipulators help people by making difficult and repetitive tasks easier for them. The top-of-the-range products we offer are equipped with vertical-effort assist with a motorised axis or multidirectional-effort assist with a poly-articulated cobot. The handling remains simple and natural. They are adjustable for balancing and to exert pressure, and some of them have guidance-assist features. They also allow greater productivity thanks to their speed of execution.

How cobot works?

For RB3D, a cobot, also called a cobotic manipulator, has a mechanical architecture of the 6-axis robot type (generally rotating axes) or a mini motorized rigid overhead crane (generally Cartesian axes).

A manual action on the control surface makes it possible to give an intention, understood and interpreted by the control system of the cobot and which makes it possible to carry out movements without effort for the user, thanks to the motorizations of the axes.

A motorized axis consists of a motor, a mechanical torque transmission system, a frequency converter, and safety functions. Everything is held in place by a mechanical holding and guiding system.

Can you explain the driving principle?

To drive a RB3D cobot, the user grabs a control mean (a kind of horizontal handle or vertical bar) and with only one hand, he applies forces to this control mean.

The control mean is attached to a 6-axis force sensor which will measure the force applied by the operator. To put it very simply, this measurement is processed and broken down into 2 pieces of information:

The direction of the force: to indicate in which direction the cobot must move.
The intensity of the force: to indicate with what acceleration it must move.

Knowing these 2 information, the control system must then drive the motors adequately and safely, via frequency converters.

For driving to be efficient and smooth, all information is measured and used in real time in the control system. This makes it possible to obtain immediate and direct actions from the cobot.

What's the energy consumption of RB3D cobots?

Energy consumption depends on several factors, but mainly on how the cobot is used, namely the number of motors used and their operating time.

So, numerous and rapid movements consisting of frequent braking and acceleration will require more energy than slow and infrequent movements.

Applying a large force also requires a significant amount of energy.

Finally, the proper operation of the control system consumes a certain amount of energy like any computer hardware.

But generally, a cobotic manipulator consumes less than 5Kw of instantaneous power, and on average only a few tens of KWh per day.

What machine safety standards does the cobot meet?

Our cobots meet the requirements of the machine directive 2006/42 CE, grouping together a set of reference standards for the electrical, mechanical and ergonomic safety of the user.

Are there any special components at risk of obsolescence?

As a manufacturer, we must always keep our designs up to date to avoid the risk of obsolescence. So we regularly interview our suppliers to make sure this does not happen.

When the risk of obsolescence is proven, we do what is necessary to ensure interchangeability with next-generation components.

Cobotic manipulators: What are the preventive maintenance intervals?

We recommend doing weekly checks on the proper functioning and cleanliness of our cobotic manipulators.

Every year, an in-depth check by the maintenance department is recommended, in order to test the safety functions, check the critical elements and preventively change the few parts subject to potential wear.

It is possible that for certain grippers equipped with suction cups, it is necessary to check monthly that the suction cups are in good working condition.

FAQ