Robot programming for everyone

The main drawback of using robots for frequently changing environments and tasks, something which is typical of production in small and medium-sized enterprises, is the significant effort required for setting up work cells and programming robots. This is no longer necessary.

For setting up a production cell, the operator just needs to take the required devices (grippers, tools and fixtures) and connects them to the robot controller. Thanks to newly developed Plug & Produce technology, the system is configured automatically, using low-cost microcontrollers.

Next, the operator gets hold of the robot and guides it manually step-by-step through the process (Lead-Through Programming) using speech recognition to tell the robot what to do and where. The system is configured for the worker, not the other way round. The combination of these processes results in an innovative robot programming concept for everyone.

All visitors to AUTOMATICA 2008 are welcome to try this out for themselves on a demo robot work cell – it really is as simple as that. With SMErobot? technology, there are just minutes between setting up and starting to produce.

Contact:
Christian H. Müller / ABB Corporate Research Centre
Phone: +49 6203 71-6372
Fax: +49 6203 71-6412
E-mail: Christian.H.Mueller@de.abb.com
Jens Hofschulte / ABB Corporate Research Centre
Phone: +49 6203 71-6105
Fax: +49 6203 71-6412
E-mail: jens.hofschulte@de.abb.com