Industrial Robotic Arms: Factors you should consider when acquiring

Industrial robot arm have been in the factory floor for the last fifty years since the first robot was manufactured. Over the years, they have changed in appearance and functionality but they still remain an integral part for any manufacturing entity that wants to increase efficiency and productivity.

As the need for the industrial robot arm has grown, the number of tasks that can be completed by it have also grown. As a result, different robot arms have been made that can competently execute different tasks depending on the main reason a factory needs a robot arm.
Here are the factors that factories need to consider when acquiring an industrial robot arm.

Industrial Robotic Arms Kinematics
Kinematics refers to the way the robot arm moves in the course of completing its tasks. Broadly, kinematics refers to the structure of the industrial arm, axis and joints of the industrial arm and finally its movement.

When considering this factor, there are different types of industrial arms an organization can acquire. First is the Cartesian which moves on the vertical diagonal and horizontal axis and needs a large working area. Secondly is the cylindrical robot arm which consists of a base and a rotating cylindrical tube. The other is the spherical robot arm which allows flexibility in movement and the fourth is the articulated arm robot which closely imitates the human form providing large degrees of freedom to their movement and working area.

Weight of the robot arm
This is another factor that factories acquiring an industrial arm should consider. The weight of the robot arm comprises of several factors to check out. Most important is the size of the robot. Will the robot fit in the available space that the organization currently operates from? Will it fit into the current production system? These questions will help your organization buy the correct industrial robot arm.

Control system
This refers to the running of the robot arm. It refers to the programming of the robotic arm in how it executes assigned tasks. The programming provides for the robotic arm the arm the steps to follow for it to complete a certain task and what position to assume when it completes the task. Control systems determine the preciseness of the repeatability of the industrial robotic arm.

Repeatability
Repeatability refers to the ability of the industrial arm to get back to its original position once it completes a task. Industrial robotic arms are usually calibrated to have small margins of error when going back to begin another task. Larger margins of error for their repeatability may lead to the robotic arm performing the wrong task. That is why it is important to ensure that before acquiring a robotic arm, you find out its control system which will determine the accuracy of its repeatability.

Here the lower the margins of repeatability the better.

Industrial Robotic Arms maximum payload capacity
How heavy a load can the robotic arm you want to acquire carry? IS the robotic arm strong enough to bear the weight of the products produced by your organization? Will the end effector be strong enough to hold your product as it executes tasks assigned to it?

These questions will help you choose the best robotic arm for your organization.

Reach
How far can your robotic arm go? Will it comfortably utilize the working area set aside for it? It is important to find out the reach of the robotic arm prior to purchasing it to ensure that it will be a good fit for your organization. This will help increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your production process.

Drive
Drive refers to the functionality of your industrial robotic arm. There are three types of drive for the robotic arm; electric which means that your robotic arm is powered by electricity. Second, is a pneumatic drive system which refers to machines being powered by compressed air while the third drive system for your robotic arm is the hydraulic drive system which refers to hydraulic pressure being used to power your robotic arm. Most robotic arms use the hydraulic drive system.