Gripper play an important role for teamwork between humans and robots. They must precisely handle the parts in the direct environment of people without touching or injuring them. The SCHUNK Co-act series adapts to this perfectly. The top model, the SCHUNK Co-act JL1 clamp, goes one step further: through a complex system of sensors and decentralized artificial intelligence fully integrated, it is able to record constant information of the seized component and the environment, as well as to process it and react appropriately depending on the situation.
The standards are one thing and acceptance in daily use, another very different, as highlighted especially in the collaboration between people and robots. Consequently, SCHUNK, a leader in competencies for grip systems and clamping technology, has raised the bar with respect to what is stipulated in the standards in its collaboration clamps between people and robots of the Co-act family and, in particular , in the emblematic JL1. "The function of these types of standards is simply to prevent users from suffering serious injuries," explains Dr. Markus Klaiber, technical director of SCHUNK. "However, for the general industrial use of collaboration between people and robots, this is not enough," says Klaiber. After all, Nowadays, it is not enough for a car to transport its occupants to the destination safe and sound. "To sell a car at this time, it is necessary to offer endless practical and increasingly intelligent extras apart from the actual function, namely the displacement between points A and B". This situation resembles the way in which SCHUNK clamps will be designed in the future, according to expert opinion.
Compliance with RAMI 4.0 guidelines
The SCHUNK Co-act JL1 clamp is the world's first intelligent grip module for collaboration between humans and robots. It has been designed in accordance with the guiding principles of Industry 4.0, has a decentralized control architecture designed according to RAMI 4.0 guidelines and interacts directly with people and robots. Although the collaboration clamps between humans and robots available so far in the market only meet the minimum standards established for accident prevention and, in addition, the clamps are usually surrounded by a protective cover, the Co-act clamp SCHUNK JL1 goes much further: through a complex system of sensors and decentralized artificial intelligence fully integrated, It is able to record information on the seized component and the environment constantly, as well as process and react appropriately depending on the situation.
Intuitive operation
Similar to a smart mobile phone, the clamp combines several individual systems into a single smart system, which facilitates intuitive use. It includes five microcontrollers and a complete micro-PC system, with operating system and intelligent software; several bus lines, an Ethernet interface and an OPC-UA interface for communication with system control, with other components and with cloud solutions.
