Under-Table Robot Layout for Accessible Collaborative Workbenches
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing work apparatuses with collaborative robot work areas face limitations in flexibility, accessibility, and cost due to the need for extensive protective enclosures and complex sensor systems, which restrict material logistics and integration into diverse production environments.
Innovation Solution
The robot is positioned beneath the worktop, with only its manipulator head accessing the collaborative work area, reducing the volume of the sensor-monitored area and allowing for simpler protective measures. This design enhances accessibility and flexibility by minimizing the space required for protective devices and allowing for unobstructed material logistics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the robot is mounted on top of the worktop or arranged above the worktop, then the robot can access the collaborative work area, but the protective enclosure volume increases and material logistics are restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The robot is relocated from a vertical arrangement (above the worktop) to a horizontal arrangement (beneath the worktop), changing the spatial dimension of robot placement. This allows the manipulator head to access the collaborative work area through openings in the worktop while the main robot body remains underneath, significantly reducing the required protective enclosure volume above the worktop.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot structure is segmented into two parts: the manipulator head that accesses the collaborative work area through openings in the worktop, and the main robot body that remains beneath the worktop. This segmentation allows the robot to function in the collaborative space while minimizing the enclosed volume required for safety.
2Reliability
If extensive protective enclosures and sensor systems are used, then safety is improved, but device complexity and investment costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The main robot body is extracted from the collaborative work area and placed beneath the worktop, leaving only the manipulator head in the collaborative space. This extraction reduces the volume requiring complex protective enclosures and sensor monitoring, while safety is maintained through selective positioning and simplified protective measures around the reduced collaborative zone.
3Extent of automation
If the robot is positioned above the worktop, then work steps can be performed automatically, but flexibility for integration into production lines is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The robot system is repositioned from above the worktop to beneath the worktop, changing the vertical arrangement to a horizontal one. This dimensional change allows the manipulator head to reach through openings in the worktop for automatic work steps, while the compact underneath positioning provides greater flexibility for integrating the work apparatus into diverse production line configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
A work apparatus for semi-automatically carrying out work steps, having a work bench, which has a worktop and a collaborative work area arranged above the worktop, in which work steps may be carried out manually and automatically, a robot being arranged beneath the worktop for carrying out the automatic work steps, and at least one opening being present in the worktop, through which the work area is accessible for the robot.