1.) Reliability
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| Sawyer Robot - Rethink Robotics |
2.) Efficiency
3.) Safe
4.) Cheap
5.) Easy to Use
6.) Flexibility
7.) Fast Payback
8.) Easy to Deploy
1.) Reliability
Collaborative Robots have the potential to be the most reliable employees that work on your factory floor, once told or trained to do a task they literally will not stop working. Also, with the added fact that they can't call in sick or browse Facebook when no ones looking makes a collaborative robot an incredible asset for any facility.
2.) Efficiency
There are many different kinds of collaborative robots but Sawyer from Rethink Robotics (pictured above) is one the most technologically advanced around. All training/programming is done directly from his arm and an previously trained tasks can be brought up directly on his screen for you to use again. Train your Sawyer to do a task once and step back .... the arm will continue to go until it runs out of work to do!
3.) Safe
The whole idea behind collaborative robots is the inherent safety that is built in to them. The reason for this is that safety is the #1 concern on all manufacturing floors. Traditional robots must be guarded and fenced in but a collaborative robot does not. If one of these arms does run into a fellow employee or another object it simply stops moving, being smart enough to know that something is in their way.
4.) Cheap
Most decisions in working environments are driven by price, especially the purchasing of equipment such as robots. With collaborative robots coming in roughly around $30k, its a great time to start looking at all the costs you would be saving by making the investment. Guarding, advanced programming, heavy scheduled maintenance area all no longer necessary which makes the investment worth it in the long run.
5.) Easy to use
Another great thing about collaborative robots, and Sawyer especially, is the ease of use and quick programming abilities. Sawyer can be trained for simple tasks directly from the arm/cuff without the need for a PC or advanced programming skills. No high level programming experience involved!
6.) Flexibility
Traditional Robots tend to be utilized for incredibly high volume and longterm projects, caged-in and bolted down. Collaborative robots can be used for the opposite, Sawyer comes on a wheeled pedestal allowing a switch between jobs simple and easy. The end of the arm is designed to hold several different tooling options, everything from high speed cameras or parallel electric grippers down to vacuum cups are available. The options and customizations for collaborative robots are endless.
7.) Fast Payback
As I had mentioned before, collaborative robots are incredible easy to train and use. This allows an operator to set one up and basically let them go. The robot doesn't sleep or stop working and as long as it has something to do ... it will do it. This makes the ROI incredibly fast. A collaborative robot can usually have paid for itself in less than a year of operation, Rethink Robotic's Sawyer usually sees a full return in just a matter of months.
8.) Easy to deploy
By far one of the greatest benefits which comes from choosing collaborative robots is the fact that they are so easy to set up and operate within a workspace, Traditional robots can take a significant amount of time to get set up and operational on a plant floor. The Sawyer robot itself can be un-boxed, attached to the pedestal, and already be trained/working in under an hour.
If you would like more information on collaborative robots or Sawyer from Rethink Robotics please follow the link or contact us directly!
Thank you for reading,
Brett Concannon
Gibson Engineering Co., Inc.
www.gibsonengineering.com
Great post!
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