Chemical Technology

Chemical Technology • November 2015

Rethinking

automation

orkforce shortages and consumer demands

for customised products mean manufacturers

need to rethink their processes, their met-

rics, and even their automation technology strategies.

Take the traditional industrial robot, for example. Fast

and efficient, these fixed automation solutions deliver the

speed, payloads and mechanical repeatability needed for

high-volume, low-mix environments. Although they have

obvious advantages, they have very real disadvantages for

manufacturers with lower-volume, higher-mix environments.

While fast and precise, high speed robots are also fixed,

expensive, and inflexible.

To meet these unmet needs, a new breed of automa-

tion has emerged that provides an exciting alternative to

fixed automation. This new category is called ‘collaborative

robotics’, and it’s changing what’s possible for manufactur-

ers of all sizes.

This new class of robot has several distinct advantages

over its fixed industrial counterparts, allowing it to:

• Work safely side-by-side with humans

• Perform the simple, repetitive tasks that in the past were

difficult and expensive to automate

• Allow anyone on the factory floor to quickly train it without

needing any programming knowledge

• Moveable to enable quick deployment and changeover

• Interact with its human co-workers and adapt ‘on the fly’

to changes in its environment

• Be incredibly affordable.

• If that sounds too good to be true, then it’s time to rethink

your idea of production robots.

Baxter: Collaborative, and more

Within the automation industry, the term ‘collaborative’ is

used to define robots that can operate safely outside of

a cage. But, to be truly collaborative, a robot must have

the ability to work safely side-by-side with humans, adapt

to changes in its environment, and interact with the very

people it works beside.

Meet Baxter

Built from the ground up to address the challenges of to-

day’s manufacturers, Baxter is a new breed of collaborative

robot that integrates safety, flexibility and interactivity. A

smart, collaborative robot unlike any other, Baxter is:

• Flexible enough to fit into humanworkspaces.

With traditional

and other ‘cage-free’ robots, any slight misalignment can

wreak havoc on a production line. Baxter is different. With

its integrated Robot Positioning System™ and cameras,

Baxter responds intelligently to changing workforce condi-

tions, whether that’s stopping when coming into contact

with a person or adapting to a table being bumped out of

alignment. Traditional robots require building expensive

work cells. Baxter works with existing workspaces and

fixtures designed for human hands by ‘feeling’ its way

into a tight fixture.

• Programmable

‘

on the fly

’

Traditional robots require weeks

of programming by highly skilled engineers. With Baxter,

factory employees ‘train’ the robot by moving its arms and

pressing a few buttons. Baxter performs the set task and

then can be redeployed for another task.

• Continuously innovative.

Traditional robots are dumb and

inflexible. They perform the same task repeatedly until

The automated factory environment was

envisioned and built decades ago to meet

the needs of manufacturers producing high

volumes of mass-produced products. Today,

unprecedented change is taking place.