End-of-Arm Safeguard Prevents Pinch Points for Cobot Operation

Universal Robots and SICK have collaborated to create an End-of-Arm Safeguard, which monitors machine safety directly from the tool flange of a cobot.

Transcript
Transcript

Hi, my name is Michael DeGrace. I'm Universal Robots Ecosystems Success Manager and I'm here today at Pack Expo 2024 where we're showcasing the new collaboration between SICK and Universal Robots.

This product is called end of arm safeguard. It's the first of its kind. It enables speed and separation monitoring safety at the tool flange of the robot arm. The mechanism by which universal robots is collaborative is called force and power limiting. Essentially what that means is that if you run into the robot arm, it translates that force value into a current value and then stops the robot arm.

What this device at the end of the arm allows you to do is break the laser field, thus providing what's called speed and separation monitoring or SSM safety to the end of the tool flange. Why this is useful is because there are many applications where the robot arm goes down to pick something or interact with something on a table or a surface top and creates a pinch point. This device prevents any sort of pinch point from happening. So it's safe for operators to get in and manipulate with a part underneath, not having to worry about the robot coming down and crushing their hands.

It's also useful for any sort of end effector that's high force. You can imagine extremely high force pneumatic actuators. It would be dangerous to get your hands stuck in a vice.This device is going to protect against things like that. You can actually see the individual laser beams. As I move my hand under the sensor, the sensor is picking up the feedback from the interference. And then registering that as a, as a stop function.

If you're interested in learning more about SICK and Universal Robots, you can visit us at UniversalRobots. com. Again, my name is Mike DeGrace, thank you so much.

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Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
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