RoboDK with pen for programming

Following in the footsteps of German startups Wandelbots and drag&bot, another company, Canadian startup RoboDK, has unveiled a stylus that records human movements to program an industrial robot. The "TwinTrack," as it is called, comprises a laser tracker and a hand-held stylus. With the TwinTrack, anyone should be able to program their industrial robot by tracing the desired path with the aforementioned hand-held probe. It can be used for many robotic applications, such as welding, painting, deburring, dispensing.

Functionality

The measuring system detects the exact position of the probe in real time and sends it to RoboDK's offline programming software. The operator simply holds the probe in his hand and places its tip where the robot should move. Teaching a point or path is then a simple case of pressing a button on the probe. When calibrated, the system can detect the desired position to an accuracy of 0.150 mm, the width of a human hair. Currently, 500 industrial robots from 50 (!) different manufacturers are already said to be programmable. These include ABB, Kuka, Fanuc, Yaskawa, Tecman, Omron, Denso, Epson, Stäubli, Nachi, Dobot, Aubo, Hanwha, adept, Mecamedic, Doosan, Comau, Universal Robots and Mitsubishi.

The close chronological sequence of the pen presentations shows how important it is for startups to have money to expand. Regardless of the technology, the two German providers have an advantage here for the time being - they are already known. In markets like Asia or the U.S., on the other hand, early and powerful market entry is likely to be important for the future. And this must first be pre-financed. Similar to drag&bot, RoboKD has been on the market for several years and has a correspondingly large number of users - but so far without a pen.

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The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/robotics project Boost-Bot . He advises robotics companies on market/business development and funding issues. The author is also available to potential users for a walk through of your production/ manufacturing(detail). Concrete proposals for the use of cobots and other robots, including funding opportunities, will be made. Both SMEs and large companies are visited. The standard book about cobots is also written by Guido Bruch.