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Strong, fast and hollow – that´s what´s needed

Up and down the country new robots are being tested. This can only mean one thing – AUTOMATICA is starting soon. Companies like ABB, Fanuc, Kuka and Motoman are after all keen to put on a good show at their most successful international platform. Certainly sales in recent years have been buoyant, helping to bring in the money for those new developments and innovations. Between 2006 and 2007 total sales by German robotics manufacturers rose by a fantastic 22% to 2.1 billion euros. For 2008 the VDMA, Germany´s engineering federation, are expecting a further increase of 12%. The number of robots out there being used is therefore also on the rise. By the time you read this somewhere in the world the millionth robot will have been sold.

New products are also attracting public interest ahead of AUTOMATICA – small, fast robots, as well as industry-specific welding and painting robots, plus power machines. Some of these new products have been exhibited at events in the early year, but from 10 to 13 June in Munich, they will be out in force for the trade audience at this international trade fair.

Already the word in the sector is that systems will be a big focus of the company displays at the trade fair. But of course there will still be a range of robots also putting in a premiere performance at AUTOMATICA. And, in view of the high number of hands-on professionals among the audience, the emphasis with these robots will be on showing them in action performing practical applications, and in a suitable environment.

Among the new products announced for the show, we are now seeing a trend towards something that has been in demand for years, but is only now starting to be realised – more carrying capacity at less own weight, to produce more dynamic robots. New drive concepts are also facilitating even higher acceleration rates and axle speeds. But even techy inventors have to focus on practical issues – two drives per axle will probably never be standard, if only for cost reasons. Yet it is technically possible – for speed-oriented applications the necessary thrust is now ensured.

Customers are also demanding models with a hollow arm and hollow wrist. The reason lies in simpler, protected laying of cables, energy and media connections. More and more systems planners are having to tackle free-flying cables and pipes even at the offline programming stage – concentrating on arc welding is no longer enough. In the food industry, a fast growing field of application, cabling laid in hollow arms is a must, not least because of its easier cleaning. A hollow arm is, however, not the end of the story. Even if maintenance costs are thereby lower, because less damage occurs to the enclosed cables, only some applications are suitable to this kind of robot. The cleaner solutions generally cost a few euros more – and in the tough competitive market for robotics, that can be a decisive argument.

One thing you definitely won´t miss in Munich is the strongest robot in the world – the Titan from Kuka, with 1,000 kg carrying capacity. Several sectors of industry already need carrying capacities of at least 70 kg, whether it be for palletising whole tiers in ordinary ceramics or beverages manufacturing or for handling car-body parts and complete underbodies.

As different as these applications may be, no sector of industry can or will now do without robots as flexible automation tools. You will be able to take a close-up look at all of these robots at AUTOMATICA 2008 in Munich.