The company’s stand is aligned with the exhibition’s strong focus on the robotics industry, highlighting products including the new CanisDrive range of compact hollow shaft servo actuators. The CanisDrive’s lightweight and condensed design offers a much smaller product without sacrificing performance. Harmonic Drive says the range benefits from newly developed high capacity precision drive bearings, which allows direct mounting of the external load without the need for additional bearings or support. This keeps size to a minimum while retaining the high precision of the gear.

To ensure this consistently high performance, CanisDrive marks the first instance of CobaltLine gears being used in a servo actuator. CobaltLine gears are designed to deliver repeatable high peak torques with zero backlash and lifetime precision. The use of these gears provides elevated levels of torque density and durability, with 30% higher maximum torque than standard actuators.

“June 2016 will mark the UK’s first national Robotics Week as part of the nation’s push to increase innovation and the uptake of robotics,” said Graham Mackrell, managing director of Harmonic Drive UK. “We’re also starting to see drive from the Government’s RAS 2020 initiative to boost the robotics and autonomous systems sector in the UK and the £400 million investment in innovation. This investment will see an upswing in things like collaborative robot technology as well as more advanced medical robots.

“Collaborative robots are designed to work alongside the human workforce, and to ensure they meet evolving International Standards Organisation (ISO) criteria as well as being responsive enough to react should they cross paths with a person. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) need to ensure the drives and gears they choose can perform reliably.

“High precision gears, such as those manufactured by Harmonic Drive, deliver highly accurate movements that can be repeated again and again with perfect precision. This level of accuracy and repeatability will help robot OEMs continue to innovate with peace of mind.”

It’s widely acknowledged that the UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in the widespread uptake of robotic technology. Harmonic Drive intends to support efforts by both Drives & Controls 2016 and government investments by offering products, advice and support to drive the growth of the industry as a whole.

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Despite this global growth, sales of industrial robots in the UK actually decreased by 16 per cent in 2013 to just 2,486 units. To put that into context, Germany purchased over seven times as many and China over fourteen times as many.

Graham Mackrell, managing director of Harmonic Drive, says: “It seems to me one of the biggest obstacles to growth in the UK has traditionally been a reluctance by OEMs to invest in the infrastructure, maintenance, training and expertise required to operate an automated production plant.

“A recent innovation in the form of collaborative robotics could drive UK adoption of industrial robots. Using a mixture of embedded proximity and optical sensors, high precision gears and smart software, the lightweight, often dual-arm robots, work alongside humans and can be trained using lead-through programming where less coding knowledge is needed.

“Collaborative robotics will also improve health and safety, eliminating the need for cages, cells or no-go zones, minimising the impact of human error and, in turn, accidents such as the one which recently led to the death of a factory worker in a German automotive factory.

“With the right change in attitude and a focus on proactive innovation, collaborative robots have the power to drive growth in the UK robotic market.”

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Pictured right: Harmonic Drive’s SDH is a shorter gear component for use in robotics, addressing the trend for smaller, lighter rigs

“After reading a recent white paper from Denso Robotics concerning the costs of owning a small assembly robot I got to thinking about all the little things that affect cost,” he says. “When choosing a robot it’s important to consider the guidelines Denso outlines in its paper, but to also carefully look at the parts that make it tick.

“Beyond the initial cost of purchasing a small assembly robot, the costs of its maintenance and the energy it consumes can run on and on – especially if internal parts, such as gears, are sub-par.

“A machine using unsuitable gears can incur increased energy bills, increase the level of maintenance required, reduce accuracy creating increased waste, drive up production costs, and decrease lifespan. Reducing these costs and making robotics a more gainful investment is one of the key benefits of our ColbaltLine series of gears.”

Harmonic Drive Cobaltline gears are included, for example, on the KR Agilus robot from Kuka to deliver safe and reliable power transmission. According to Harmonic Drive, the Cobaltline series gears have 30% more torque capacity and lifetime increased by 40%, when compared to the HFUC technology. This has been achieved, says the company, by optimising the Flexspline and Circular Spline teeth and adapting the shape of the Wave generator.

In addition, Harmonic drive has introduced a shorter gear component for use in robotics, addressing the trend for smaller, lighter rigs. The new SHD drive has a hollow shaft incorporated into the centre of the unit with a diameter ranging from 11 to 40mm, allowing the feed-through of cabling, supply lines and other services.

I would advise anyone who is planning to buy a robot to request specific information from robotics manufacturers

Available in six sizes, from 14-40 with equivalent weights of 0.33 to 3.09kg, the SHD-2SH series units are available with a repeatable peak torque from 12 to 453Nm and reduction ratios of 50, 100 and 160:1. This enhanced power-to-weight ratio is complemented by a shorter Flexspline and heavy duty output bearings.

The SHD-2SH series has been specially adapted to incorporate heavy-duty cross roller output bearings to minimise the overall length. The bearing can withstand both high axial and radial forces as well as high tilting moments.

“I would advise anyone who is planning to buy a robot to request specific information from robotics manufacturers,” concludes Mackrell. “This not only helps ensure they get an accurate machine capable of performing to their needs, it also gives a more precise view of where long term costs may be incurred.”

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