‘Sawyer’ helps raise the bar in robotics
Robots continue to change the way you do business. And automation is expected to be the future of the produce processing industry.
Some companies, like Rethink Robotics, are ahead of the technology curve and introducing human-like machines.
“Rethink Robotics is dedicated to expanding the availability of manufacturing automation through collaborative robotics,” said Jim Lawton, chief product and marketing officer at Rethink Robotics. “Today, more than 90 percent of physical tasks performed in manufacturing environments can’t be practically or economically automated. That’s because conventional robots are unable to adapt to real world variability in the workspace or operate effectively in semi-structured environments. Traditional industrial robots require humans to undertake costly and time-consuming reprogramming efforts when the robot completes one task and begins another.”
Industry, meet Sawyer. Sawyer, meet industry.
Sawyer, one of two robots that can “shift quickly from one task to another without extensive reprogramming,” was introduced in April of this year.
“These smart, collaborative robots are designed to function in variable, imperfect environments alongside human co-workers without the need for safety cages,” Lawton said. “By allowing robots to conduct the repetitive, low-skill tasks, Rethink frees up humans to take on more complex work that takes advantage of human strengths – like cognitive skill and reasoning. This enables our customers to better compete in a global marketplace.”
What makes Sawyer special?
“Sawyer features seven degrees of freedom with over a 1-meter reach – one of the longest in the collaborative robot marketplace – that can maneuver into the tight spaces and varied alignments of work cells designed for humans,” Lawton said. “Its compliant motion control allows it to ‘feel’ its way into fixtures or machines, even when the position varies slightly. This allows Sawyer to work effectively in semi-structured environments, while operating safely next to its human coworkers.
“Sawyer is particularly well suited for machine tending tasks and for automating printed circuit board testing processes, but we anticipate it will be deployed in a range of industries beyond that, including food packaging.”
Rethink Robotics is currently field testing the robot at customer sites across the globe. Lawton said feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Sawyer will be deployed in factories this fall.
“Like manufacturers in most other industries, food packagers are experiencing a growing need for automation that is capable of moving from line to line without extensive reprogramming or reconfiguring of their work cells,” he said. “Sawyer is ideally suited for these environments.
“Traditional or fixed automation solutions in food processing can require hundreds of hours of programming and implementation and cannot easily adapt to changes on the line, making them impractical for a large number of jobs that are not being automated today.”
— By Courtney Culey, digital content editor
