A cleanroom-quality version of ABB Robotics' IRB 120 robot was designed to be a fast, compact robot with lower production costs for industries that require a minimum of environmental pollutants during manufacturing. In particular, it is targeted for the electronics, medical, and solar manufacturing industries.
The Cleanroom IRB 120 robot has been tested and certified to Cleanroom ISO 5 (Class 100) by the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, a leading independent manufacturing research and analysis provider. The IRB 120 is ABB's smallest multipurpose six-axis industrial robot, weighing only 25kg (55 pounds). It has a standard payload of 3kg (6.6 pounds) and a vertical wrist payload of 4kg (8.8 pounds). Its reach is 580mm, and it can reach 112mm below its base. The model's best-in-class stroke is 411mm, and its repeatability of pose (RP) is 0.01mm.
A cleanroom version of ABB's smallest multipurpose six-axis industrial robot is targeted at the electronics, medical, and solar manufacturing industries.
(Source: ABB Robotics)
"The industries that require cleanroom manufacturing environments continue to grow, increasing the need for a fast and compact robot that meets stringent anti-contamination requirements," Joe Campbell, vice president of the robots and applications group at ABB, said in a press release on the new robot. "We feel the Cleanroom IRB 120 will allow our integrators to penetrate new markets with a cost-effective and reliable robot that generates high production outputs in return for a minimal investment."
Materials used in the components of the IRB 120 that were likely to generate particles were modified in the cleanroom version. This eliminates the possibility of contaminating the manufacturing area and the parts being processed there. The Cleanroom IRB 120 has unpainted stainless-steel mechanical stops, unpainted mounting holes, and special glue seals to avoid particle generation. It can also be easily cloth cleaned, due to a special four-layer paint clear coated with varnish.
NightTrain, Thanks for sharing your insights and experience. We do need more companies to develop a view of robotics/automation as a net positive for productivity. Other issues shouldn't be standing in the way of innovation and excellence.
Commercially available robots and pickers, their control software, and their data acquisition software are commodities. This week I saw units stripping a loin off a pork belly and shaping the doors at a kit car manufacturer. They arent rocket science anymore. Corporate policy regarding ROI, workforce relations, floor space, etc are the impediments. Industrial mechtronics has all the tools it needs available. Management needs the will.
Al, thanks for the feedback. It looks to me, also, like there's more specialization going on in robotics. I asked on another thread about vertical software packages for robotics--can you tell us more about those? Where are they appearing, and for what industries/apps?
It's interesting how the robotics market seems to developing more and more products/solutions to reach vertical market areas versus traditional strongholds like welding and painting. Sometimes this involves the robot itself but often is supported by software solutions aimed at specific needs. I expect we'll continue to see more of this, along with robotic solutions being tightly integrated into machines versus standalone. Plenty of room for innovation.
Excellent question, Chuck. I suspect the answer is the special glue seals mentioned. At least in semi manufacturing, cleanrooms are generally dry environments, and standards are aimed at keeping the air particulate-free.
On a different note, I thought one of the more interesting aspects of the story is the growing number of applications and industries that want cleanroom equipment, including robots. I wonder why that is. Tighter regulations? Does anyone know?
You can remote the control systems to a point depending on the manufacturer and the system. This can present some safety and service issues if not handled well. Depending on the system you can get as far as 60' to 100' of cable length away without significantly impacting control.
It is a slow death for a control cabinet in a washdown environment especially if its stainless steel. Those cabinets condensate even with heat inside. In a FDA environment the survivability is better. In a USDA environment you will be subject to high pressure wash and possibly corrosives. USDA environments are where machines come to die.
Many process applications have wash-down requirements, which requires enclosures for things like the PLCs. Don't know how this applies to robots, tough, and what it would mean in terms of lubrication. Maybe there are sealed lubrication systems, like they have in many other systems.
In my experience, in a food environment, if you are using a manipulator arm bot you use one as shown, or a Staubli etc, which has the drives enclosed within the body. The body is then plumbed so it is negative with respect to the room pressure and vented outside of the room. This makes the bot wipe-n-bag in a washdown environment. Depending on the application, not clean room, you can pressurize the bot. You just set the seals accordingly.
What about lubricants for the robot's joints? Wouldn't a lubricant emit lots of particles greater than half a micron? I know that robots have been used in clean rooms forever, but I've never understood how any lubricated device could be acceptable in a clean room.
naperlou, I know what you mean about food service requirements. Stainless steel is easy to wash, and I think that's one of the reasons it's used there, correct? Cleanroom requirements are insanely strict, perhaps even stricter, although also along different lines, the number one thing being particle contamination. So I think that may be why metal surfaces are painted where possible, except for points of stress, to prevent any particles being created.
What issues did you mean that flat surfaces present?
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