First launch of human machine collaboration at PPMA Total
The FANUC CR-35iA collaborative robot, which has now been fitted with hand guidance capability, has today been launched at the PPMA Total Show. With the FANUC Hand Guidance unit, users can easily and intuitively instruct the robot in individual handling operations and complete movements without any programming. Employees need to spend less time training robots – or being trained to program them.
Using the hand guidance unit to guide the robot by hand, robot moves can be preset into the CR-35iA without the complexity of programming. Examples include the ability to:
- guide the robot arm and tooling by hand to the right point
- pick-up and carry a workpiece
- manually control and improve a handling application in a safe way
- position a part with minimum effort
The human-safe, TÜV certified CR-35iA has a 35kg payload and can assist with high payload handling, assembly, component feeding and workpiece loading and unloading tasks that have historically had to be carried out manually. Key target areas include – but are by no means limited to – automation assembly lines, metalworking and packaging.
Whilst most other collaborative robots are encased in a sensing cover that stops the robot when a human gets too close, FANUC’s collaborative robot ensures safety through the use of intelligent sensors, which automatically stop the robot if it touches a human operator. This means the CR-35iA can go closer to jigs and other peripherals when required.
In order to ensure that humans are not exposed to unacceptable risks when working collaboratively, current industry standards and guidelines recommend hand guiding as one of the preferred measures to minimise safety hazards. Training by hand guidance ensures that robot paths are within the defined ranges specified by risk assessments, all without the complexity of traditional programming.
