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Two-armed robot uses sensitive three-finger grippers

23 October, 2015

The Italian robot-maker Comau is the latest company to develop a two-armed humanoid robot for industrial applications. At the recent EMO machine tool exhibition in Milan, it demonstrated a concept version of the robot with the two arms working together to assemble complex objects.

Based on Comau’s Racer3 robot arm design, the two-armed machine, called Amico, was fitted with a pair of Schunk SDH2 three-finger grippers, which can hold a wide variety of objects. Two of the fingers can change their orientation to adapt to objects of different shapes and sizes.

The grippers also incorporate sensors that can recognise the surface of the objects being held and apply the appropriate force. In addition to high precision, this allows the robot to sense whether the gripping is optimal or needs to be adjusted.

The Amico robot is Comau's contender in the two-armed humanoid robot market

Comau says that the two-armed robot indicates the direction that it is taking towards a future in which precision robots will be involved in machine-machine cooperation and, increasingly, in man-machine cooperation. It adds that such a future is evolving from a hypothesis to a real production opportunity that can be applied in total safety.

The Racer3, on which the Amico is based, is a small, lightweight six-axis robot designed to boost productivity and to cut costs for manufacturers of all sizes, by automating industrial applications with accuracy, precision and versatility. The robot, which weighs 30kg, has a payload of 3kg and a reach of 630mm. The aluminium and magnesium robot can be mounted in any position and is suitable for applications such as assembly, materials-handling, machine-tending, dispensing and pick-and-place.




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