ABB Adds 2 Large Robots to Support EV Manufacturers
March 9, 2022
ABB has announced two new robot families to its portfolio of large robots for complex manufacturing applications. The new IRB 5710 and 5720 robots aim to deliver increased productivity and enhanced performance with higher uptime for applications including electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, foundry, forging, rubber, plastics and metal fabrication.
The family includes eight variants with payload options that range from 70 kg up to 180kg, with reaches from 2.3 m to 3 m. ABB said the robot families are suitable for several production tasks, including material handling, machine tending and assembly, as well as specific operations in EV manufacturing such as battery module picking and placing, high precision assembly, and parts handling. In addition, benefits of the robots make them ideal for use in plastic molding, metal casting, cleaning, and spraying applications.
“These new robots accelerate ABB’s continuing expansion into the rapidly growing EV market, meeting customer demand for robust units with the speed, path accuracy and dexterity to handle complex EV battery assembly duties,” said Joerg Reger, managing director of ABB Robotics’ automotive business line. “The switch from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs especially is driving increased demand for fast, adaptable production lines. EV designs can often be highly complex, and components such as batteries and semiconductor modules can be very heavy or extremely fragile. These demands call for solutions that can offer maximum precision and repeatability to avoid errors in production.”
The new robots are powered by ABB’s new OmniCore controller V250XT, the latest addition to the OmniCore controller family. This includes ABB’s TrueMove and QuickMove motion control technology. The robots include position repeatability (0.04 to 0.05 mm), path repeatability (0.1 to 0.14 mm) and path accuracy (1 to 1.2 mm), which enable them to deliver the highest levels of manufacturing quality, ABB said.
The systems also feature protection against damage and cable wear through ABB’s LeanID Integrated DressPack, which enables process cables to be routed inside the robot’s upper arm and along the wrist, rather than externally. This method eliminates swinging cables, protecting against heat and collisions, which ABB said is a common cause of robot maintenance issues. The LeanID interaction can also be programmed and simulated in ABB’s RobotStudio offline programming software, to simulate predictable cable movements.
The robot series also have multiple mounting options, including floor, angled, inverted and semi-shelf. ABB said additional applications, such as welding, cutting, or dispensing, will be released in 2023.
More details on the new systems are available at this ABB website.
Infographic courtesy of ABB.
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