ST Robotics' latest addition to its R12 robot product line is the Tandem R125, a low-cost, two-armed robot system that costs less than $20,000.
The Tandem R125 is comprised of two 5-axis vertically articulated robot arms, which are mounted to a programmable carousel. Its two robot controllers are interconnected, enabling communications to synchronize the motions of the two robots moving together; or allowing the robots to cooperatively alternate turns while performing one task.
"Unlike other manufacturers' recently introduced two-armed robots, ST Robotics' Tandem R125 is a real industrial system with real industrial programming, and at a fraction of the price," said David Sands, president and CEO of ST Robotics, in an email to Design News. "This really does bring two-armed robotics into the realm of small industry."
Including the programmable carousel, ST Robotics' Tandem R125 robot has a total of 11 axes. The entire system is available for less than $20,000 and includes everything to get up and running: the two R12 five-axis robot arms mounted on the carousel, two K11R controllers, RoboForth II software, intuitive teach pad, simple interfacing with other equipment, cables, manuals, a two-year warranty, and unlimited free technical support.
Other models and variations of ST's Tandem Robots offer two six-axis R12s for a total of 13 axes with a maximum reach up to 1000 mm, an R19 cylindrical format, and linear tracks up to 3m.
Applications for ST's robots benefit the manufacturing, nuclear, pharmaceutical, laboratory, and semiconductor industries. For more information, go to strobotics.com.
That's a pretty cool video. It really shows the value of the robot. It's nice to see prices coming down on this type of equipment -- a boon for small manufacturers.
Hi Rob, I agree. The movement of the 2 robotic arms are very impressive. I thought the Dremel added a nice touch to the versatility of tools that can be attached to it. I wonder what robotic system is more cost competitive, ReThink Robotics "Baxter" or the ST Robotics Tandem Robot System? Very cool video!!
In theory at least it should not be that very difficult to link the two robots into one robotic program. Putting two 5-axis robots on a common base is an interesting concept, and it does reduce the concerns that would exist using two six-axis robots side by side. One thing that ceratinly will require a bit of extra attention is the much greater inertia encountered when swinging the common axis. Inertia is one of those things that tends to "get in the way" when programming robotic motions. Things that work perfectly at setup speeds suddenly have problems when running at production speeds. This is most obvious when grippers are unable to hold the part securly during high speed changes in direction. The result can be a part weighing several pounds being thrown quite a few feet.
Interesting, William. Why would the robot's performance be different in production? Does it have to do with the weight or resistance the robot encounters in production?
The reason thatbthings seem to be different in production is that the robots move much faster than during any of the setup modes, and also that (it seems), the production staff tend to run robots toward their maximum capabilities. The very exciting experience that I had was a robot that I had done the path programming for flinging a six-pound transmission part across the work area. Fortunately we were not yet in a production mode, and the part harmlessly hit the floor twenty feet away. But it certainly could have ruined sombody's day. That incident was the result of the production motion speed being set much faster than it needed to be, and the gripper air pressure being lower than it should have been set at.
William, thanks for giving us a description of that incident: very scary, indeed. I can see why there's so much concern about careful industrial robotics programming.
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