When it comes to green technology, the headlines tend to go to transformational technologies—gasoline-powered cars giving way to electric vehicles, or fossil-fuel power plants giving way to solar or wind-powered generation, to name two examples. In many cases, however, incremental improvements in existing technologies can yield significant savings—lightweighting, for instance, or adding a start/stop function to gasoline-powered cars.
This evolutionary approach is driving energy-efficiency improvements in robotics, according to John Roemisch, general manager at FANUC Robotics. Speaking at BIOMEDevice Boston, he described several features of new robots and controllers that reduce energy consumption. The innovations range from continual improvements in the efficiency of servo motors and digital servo drives to the development of Gakushu robots, or learning robots, that teach themselves the most efficient ways to perform their tasks. Other techniques include such features as regeneration to recapture energy when a robotic arm slows down, controlling the cooling fan, and using a mechanical brake—rather than a servo motor—to hold robotic arms stationary when not in use.
The Gakushu technique is perhaps the most notable. A Gakushu robot employs an accelerometer in its arm to help it learn the quickest, most efficient, and vibration-free path to move boxes from a pallet, for example (watch a video here). A Gakushu robot can reduce cycle times by 12%, and of course reduced cycle times can lead to additional savings.
In the years ahead, Roemisch said, vision and tactile feedback will become ever more important for robots as they become increasingly collaborative with people.