Robots and people working together safely — it’s one of the big goals of industrial automation right now. Not because robots have evil plots directed at humans, but because they don’t have any awareness of humans at all. Out goes the heavy metal arm, and too bad for any people who happen to be in the trajectory.
A new safety gripper has been created by Schunk, Inc. This gripper is designed to interface with Rexroth Indradrive motion control. However, Indradrive now is an open drive standard, so it can also interface with other safe robotics components, such as the ABB Safe Drive machinery shown below playing snooker.
It was once impossible to build industrial robots safe enough to be let out of their cages, and letting people in with them meant shutting down operations entirely, a costly undertaking.
Now, we are very close to being able to let human and robotic workers collaborate directly. And play snooker.
In the meantime, we can help you work with your Rexroth servo motors, controls, and drives happily. We provide phone support, which is often all you need. We can also provide field support, as well as the largest selection of emergency replacement units in the country. Put our number in your phone now so you don’t have to search when you’re facing an emergency.