The Zurich-headquartered company ABB introduced its highest payload, multipurpose industrial robot. It has a reach of 3.5 meters and is capable of handling a payload of up to 800 kg.
ABB’s largest ever robot automatically adapts and adjusts its speed to accommodate heavy and wide parts. Source: ABB
“When designing the IRB 8700, we emphasized reach and payload as well as performance,” explains Ola Svanström, Product Manager for Large Robots. “Thanks to ABB’s superior motion control technology at high moments of inertia, this – our highest ever payload robot- automatically adapts and adjusts its speed to accommodate heavy and wide parts. With a compact footprint, optimized counterweight, parallel linkages, stiff axes and fewer drive motors, it keeps its momentum down and speed up.”
ABB has told that its largest ever robot offers all the functionality and expertise of the portfolio in a much bigger package. The robot has only one motor and one gear per robot axis, while most other robots in this size class use dual motors and/or gears. In addition, there are no gas springs; but a counterweight and mechanical springs for counter balancing. Thus the new robot has fewer components and is able to deliver shorter cycle times and higher accuracy, according to the Swiss company.
The IRB 8700 is available in two configurations, one with a reach of 4.2 meters and a payload of 550 kg and the other with a reach of 3.5 meters and a payload of 800 kg. Both configurations have a high moment of inertia at 725 kgm2.
