WOW! fast…

Posted at 10:09 am on Oct 19th, 2009 by monkeyslayer56

dammit, I just bought a set of twins for my shop. These abb’s look way better than the fanuc twins I just got. Probably cheaper too.

Posted at 10:50 am on Oct 19th, 2009 by The_Evil_Machinist

They also have very sensitive 3 dimensional pressure sensors and advanced dynamic artificial intelligence, so if you in any way hinder their path they’ll pick your eyes out and beat you to death.

Posted at 10:53 am on Oct 19th, 2009 by Arkenklo

cool for the first 5 seconds but its 3 minutes of doing the same damn thing

Posted at 11:45 am on Oct 19th, 2009 by kirov

Hmm, from the title I would have expected them to be opening the cans and drinking them but whatever.

I don’t know much about robotics but can someone with experience tell me whether the features listed are actually as groundbreaking as the ad makes them out to be?

#ad-a-day

Posted at 11:53 am on Oct 19th, 2009 by Ryan Leach

meh, i think a better feat of engineering would be the old style smt chip placers like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaiDXi0UOnc&feature=related

not amazingly impressive until you find out there 80% mechanically controlled

Posted at 12:03 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by spiderwebby

I hate to be this guy but..

not a hack

Posted at 12:34 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by James

I wouldn’t trust a robotics company that mixes millimeters and centimeters together.

Posted at 12:36 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by Palli

blame the sales department, they always get it wrong

Posted at 12:37 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by spiderwebby

How much does one of those cost anyway?

Posted at 1:56 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by Hackius

Get them to use knives and flesh instead of Fanta and a small cylinder.

Posted at 2:05 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by Skitchin

Was anyone else as disappointed as I was to find out that the cans were simply glued to the platforms?

I think the point they wanted to make was that the software allows simple paths (which this was) to be combined with other simple paths to create complex motion. 6 out of 10 for making an effort, but a much better demo could be done.

I hate to say it, but really… in that world, it’s pretty much a valid hack. Is it as cool as 3D milling an engine block with a 5 or 6 axis mill? Nope. But the point is that they worked out the maths and included it in their product.

Good on them!

Posted at 2:07 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by Wiggy

wow, I always thought robot having sex would look like the 2 robots with the cans, now i know what a robotic ménage à trois would look like. way cool

Posted at 3:13 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by aztraph

meh – nifty in it’s own right, but I fail to see how this is groundbreaking or hack worthy.

This kind of precision movement is exactly why these robots were created. This is like a video crowing about how your ford focus excels at rolling forward under it’s own power.

Posted at 4:47 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by smilr

I work with OTC-Daihen, Kawasaki, and ABB robots. They can all do this. Most modern robots are repeatable within half a millimeter.

Posted at 5:13 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by Jeff

What I’d like to know is who still makes the deliciously synth-heavy 80s-ish backing tracks for corporate and defence demonstration videos, and where I can buy a CD of said tracks.

Posted at 5:19 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by EdZ

My new favorite phrase:
“As you can see, we’ve added another robot!”

Posted at 7:33 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by Yen

Dudes, why the free advertising?

Posted at 9:56 pm on Oct 19th, 2009 by napalm

I am not that much of a robot person but it seems pretty nifty, high tolerances and repeatable action. They also emphasise how easy it would be to program the paths and “stepping” trough the robot motion.

Btw i find the flexpicker way cooler ;-).

Posted at 12:43 am on Oct 20th, 2009 by Squantmuts

@Squantmuts

I totally agree about the FlexPicker! Especially the part at 0:30 where they start playing “Sausage-tris” and the muffin part @ about 2:00 showing the planning software :)

I have /got/ to make one of those delta bots…

Posted at 2:00 am on Oct 20th, 2009 by Amos

@Amos

I am curious on the actuators, i guess they use servo feedback linear motors. I have seen these in action and they did not have the characteristic buzzing sound of stepper motors. Besides, stepper motors in these sizes would be enormous.

Would be a pretty cool hack to build one of these at home, but very expensive. Curious if stepper motors would be suitable for this, it cuts down on the complex servo steering.

Posted at 2:25 am on Oct 20th, 2009 by Squantmuts

If the two external ones had been visually servo’d and following the centre one moving under a programmed action I’d have been impressed :)

Posted at 8:44 am on Oct 20th, 2009 by James

“What I’d like to know is who still makes the deliciously synth-heavy 80s-ish backing tracks for corporate and defence demonstration videos, and where I can buy a CD of said tracks.”

Agreed, that was the first thing that I thought of.

Posted at 10:05 am on Oct 20th, 2009 by Jordan

@Squantmuts

they probably use brushless DC motors with harmonic drive gearing. very high reduction in a small weight and volume, and minimal gear slop

Posted at 10:18 pm on Oct 20th, 2009 by Jack

@Squantmuts

What the crap? That muffin thing is ridiculous. Is there seriously not a simpler, more efficient way to arrange muffins in trays? It seems like the same kind of engineering overkill as using an Arduino to switch a light when you press a button. I’d fire the guy who suggested those expensive robots.

Posted at 8:48 am on Oct 21st, 2009 by Easy_E

I thought he meant centimeters too, but he actually says “the distance between the cans and the pin” which does look to be about 1 mm.

Posted at 12:44 pm on Oct 21st, 2009 by bhartley

I’m pretty sure it’s 1mm. It looks like a standard 20 penny framing nail to me.

Posted at 4:01 pm on Oct 21st, 2009 by Spork

Is that really 1mm between the cans? It looks more like 1cm

Posted at 5:22 pm on Oct 26th, 2009 by Tim