Concept: ABB has launched ‘IRB 5710 and 5720’ robots that can provide better speed and flexibility for material handling on EV battery production. The robot’s improved speed and precision, as well as its sturdy architecture, can improve productivity and performance with higher uptime.

Nature of Disruption: The IRB 5710 and IRB 5720 are available in eight variations, with payloads ranging from 70 kg to 180 kg and reaches ranging from 2.3 m to 3 m. The two robot families can handle a wide range of manufacturing operations, including material handling, machine tending, and assembly. It can also conduct EV-specific procedures including picking and placing battery modules, parts handling, and high-precision assembly. It is driven by ABB’s OmniCore controller V250XT, which allows the robots to operate at greater speeds, resulting in increased production capacity and shorter manufacturing periods. The robots boast to have position repeatability of 0.04-0.05 mm, path repeatability of 0.1-0.14 mm, and path accuracy of 1-1.2 mm. ABB’s LeanID Integrated DressPack provides additional protection against damage and cable wear and tear. Wherein, the process cables are routed inside the robot’s upper arm and around the wrist rather than externally. Thus, eliminating swinging cables concerns, and protecting against heat and collisions while decreasing downtime and maintenance costs. This can help increase the robots’ service life by several years. For optimal production design flexibility, both robot ranges have several mounting choices, including angled, floor, inverted, and semi-shelf.

Outlook: EV designs are often complex, and components such as batteries and semiconductor modules can either be bulky or fragile. To eliminate production errors, these criteria necessitate technologies that can provide optimum precision and consistency. ABB’s new robots are designed to help EV manufacturers by increasing material handling speed and adaptability. The robots are suited for applications such as plastic molding, metal casting, cleaning, and spraying. In 2023, the company intends to introduce new process applications like cutting, welding and dispensing.

This article was originally published in Verdict.co.uk