February 2017System Integration & Control Systems Design
RS Components has introduced two new robotic ‘bundles’, which contain all of the components required to build a four-axis robotic arm and will bring the efficiency and reliability of robotic solutions to a far wider audience. Not only will users benefit from the functional capabilities of a robotic solution, but the bundles also offer significant cost savings versus buying the parts individually.
Each of the two available kits contains the parts required to build an igus Robolink D robotic arm – one with a 1 kg capacity and another with a 4 kg capacity and longer reach. Both can offer up to four axes and four degrees of freedom and are ideal for use in applications including R&D departments, educational establishments, laboratories and small/medium industrial factories; anywhere where a reliable, precise, affordable and flexible collaborative bench robotic arm is needed.
In addition to the parts required to build the robotic arm, RS has also devoted a significant part of its DesignSpark website over to educational videos and instructions that will help users to pair the robot with controllers and programming solutions, giving them the freedom to choose a programming language and control hardware that is best suited to their precise requirements or to simply integrate them into an existing factory automation control infrastructure.
The DesignSpark website contains a number of tutorials, depending on the user’s stage in the build journey, which contain all the necessary instructions to build a working robotic model.
With the introduction of these new Robolink D kits from RS and igus, much of the ‘black art’ regarding the design and specification of robotic systems is removed. By deploying this approach, users can have the confidence to build a robotic solution that matches their precise needs as opposed to ‘dumbing down’ a much more expensive unit. The open-source control solution makes integration much easier too, and allows the robot to connect into what are steadily becoming ever more connected enterprises and smart factories. In this case compact and affordable does not mean lower performance as these robots easily compete with more expensive types in their class.
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