[Editor’s Note: On June 1, 2010, after our article went to press, Motoman Inc. and Yaskawa Electric America, Inc. announced that they will combine to form Yaskawa America, Inc. The Motoman Inc. operations will form the Motoman Robotics Division of Yaskawa America; the Yaskawa Electric America, Inc. operations will form the Drives & Motion Division.]
Motoman Inc., the American robotic subsidiary of Japan’s Yaskawa Electric, has grown to become the second largest robotics company in the Western Hemisphere since its founding in 1989. Headquartered in West Carrollton, Ohio, Motoman has more than 29,000 robot installations. That figure, as well as Yaskawa Electric’s 200,000-plus installations, is indicative of the level of experience and innovation the company has built up over the years (more than 175 distinct robot models).
Case in point, in 2008 Motoman announced a Motoman family member, the Slim Dual-Armed (SDA) robot series. The humanoid SDA systems are specifically designed for handling, manipulation, and assembly-related tasks that require two hands operating in a very coordinated fashion. Historically those tasks have been restricted to humans. The market for such systems is huge, and an alternative to offshore manufacturing.
Features of the SDA Family
The SDA robot series comes in three versions: SDA5D (5 kg per arm), SDA10D (10 kg per arm) and SDA20D (20 kg per arm). Together, both arms can support 10, 20, and 40 kg, respectively. All SDA models are controlled by Motoman’s DX100 robot and system-level controller, which can handle up to eight robots with 72 axes of movement. The SDA family features 15 axes by combining 7 axes per arm, plus the ability for the base to rotate.
Each SDA platform occupies the same general working area as a human, making it easier to adapt the robots to human-scale workspaces. The bent elbows on the SDA permit the arms to work closer to the body, like humans, supporting the automation of assembly, handling, and part transfer. Objects can be transferred from one arm to the other without the need to place and reacquire them.
Unlike single-arm robots, Motoman’s SDA can grab objects with one hand and hold them securely while the second arm performs an operation. This capability reduces the complexity of building holders and stabilization into the work area for the function, thereby lowering cost and speeding production.
In addition, through a recent partnership with Agile Planet Inc., Motoman has provided its customers with cutting-edge hardware and software optimized for dual-arm robots. Agile’s Kinematix-M software development toolkit allows the Motoman SDA series to take full advantage of motion planning and collision avoidance, especially in cluttered environments.
Employing 3D vision, including color recognition, and coupled with a very high level of dexterity and fine control, the SDA systems are able to perform handling, manipulation, and assembly tasks formerly limited to humans. For example, a recent Motoman SDA10 demonstration had units picking differently colored Lego blocks from a bin of assorted pieces and assembling Lego structures. The ability to assemble, but not break, a Lego structure is truly impressive. Another Motoman demonstration had an SDA10 assembling tiny electronic components.
Benefits of a “Local” Solution
Costs, always a consideration, are reasonable for the SDA family. Essentially, the price of an SDA model is the same as two single-arm robots, plus another $10,000 for the rotating base. According to Motoman, these costs, when amortized over time, and including energy and maintenance, will be less expensive than outsourced human labor. Add in the advantages of local production, such as better manufacturing control, elimination of shipping costs and delays, and the ability to keep intellectual property in-house rather than sending innovative ideas overseas, and the cost of an SDA system becomes far more attractive.
Fabrication and assembly markets have responded positively to the SDA family, particularly in unstructured environments and when vision technologies are incorporated. The robot’s high speed, tight sensor integration, and motion planning capabilities, along with its humanoid form factor and reduced workspace, allow certain labor-intensive tasks, including fine assembly, to be automated. Through the use of new classes of robotics systems such as Motoman’s SDA series, certain classes of manufacturing and assembly jobs, previously moved offshore to reduce the labor cost, can now be “insourced” and compete in terms of total cost.
Distribution centers, which adopted robotic automation earlier than manufacturing, should be swayed by Motoman’s SDA family. The company reports a dramatic increase in activity for packaging and parts handling.
Will Motoman’s SDA family enable companies to manufacture complicated products domestically? Yes, but the ramp-up time will be considerable, especially given the struggling economy. But as capital spending loosens, the value of local automation with total oversight, compared with offshore assembly with little control, will prove compelling for a small, but growing number of companies.
