What Is A Robot Manipulator?

What Is a Robot Manipulator?

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Under­stand­ing the Func­tion and Struc­ture of a Robot Manipulator

An indus­tri­al robot is made up of three main com­po­nents: the robot manip­u­la­tor, pow­er sup­ply, and con­trollers. The robot manip­u­la­tor is the mechan­i­cal sys­tem that han­dles parts or tools with­in the work enve­lope, allow­ing it to car­ry out a vari­ety of tasks in man­u­fac­tur­ing and oth­er indus­tries. It con­sists of two pri­ma­ry sections:

1. Robot Arm and Body:

  • Func­tion: This sec­tion is respon­si­ble for mov­ing and posi­tion­ing parts or tools with­in the robot­’s work envelope.
  • Struc­ture: It is formed by three joints, known as axes, con­nect­ed by larg­er links.

2. Robot Wrist:

  • Func­tion: The wrist posi­tions and ori­ents the parts or tools at the work location.
  • Struc­ture: Con­sists of two or three com­pact joints for precision.

How Does a Robot Manip­u­la­tor Work?

The manip­u­la­tor is com­posed of a series of links and joint com­bi­na­tions that cre­ate rel­a­tive motion. Links are the rigid struc­tures con­nect­ing each axis, while the axes (or joints) are the mov­ing parts that allow the robot to change its position.

Types of Joints in Robot Manipulators:

  • Lin­ear Joints: Pro­vide straight-line move­ment between adja­cent links.
  • Rotary Joints: Enable rota­tion between con­nect­ed links.

Dif­fer­ent Arm Configurations:

  1. Gantry Robots:
    • Con­fig­u­ra­tion: Lin­ear joints and mount­ed overhead.
    • Work Enve­lope: Carte­sian or rectilinear.
  2. Cylin­dri­cal Robots:
    • Con­fig­u­ra­tion: Lin­ear joints with a rotary base joint.
    • Work Enve­lope: Cylindrical.
  3. Polar Robots:
    • Con­fig­u­ra­tion: Rotary and lin­ear joints with a twist­ing base joint.
    • Work Enve­lope: Spherical.
  4. Joint­ed-Arm Robots (Artic­u­lat­ed):
    • Con­fig­u­ra­tion: A twist­ing base joint with rotary links.
    • Work Enve­lope: High­ly flex­i­ble and ver­sa­tile for var­i­ous applications.

Robots​.com Offers a Range of Manip­u­la­tor Solutions

Robots​.com pro­vides inte­gra­tion-ready Fanuc, Motoman, ABB, and KUKA robots. Our expert team will help you choose the ide­al robot manip­u­la­tor con­fig­u­ra­tion for your spe­cif­ic appli­ca­tion. Explore our prod­uct list­ings or con­tact us at 877−762−6881 to learn more or to find your next indus­tri­al robot solution.