FANUC America Demonstrates Its New CR-35iA Collaborative Robot At Pack Expo 2015

FANUC presents CR-35iA cobot at Pack Expo 2015, enabling safe human-robot collaboration with vision-guided pallet handling and efficiency.

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ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., Sept. 28, 2015 – FANUC America Corporation is highlighting its new CR-35iA collaborative robot at Pack Expo 2015, Sept. 28-30, in Las Vegas, booth #5244.

The CR-35iA collaborative robot features six-axis articulation, and is the industry’s first 35 kg payload force limited collaborative robot designed to work alongside humans without the need for safety fences.  A soft foam green cover protects workers who are in direct contact with the robot.  The robot’s shell is green to distinguish the collaborative robot from the standard yellow FANUC robots. 

At the show, the CR-35iA equipped with the iRVision® 3DA/1300 Area Sensor picks boxes from a pallet and transfers them to a labeling station.  After two layers of boxes are transferred to the labeling station, the robot uses iRVision “No-Cal” to locate the boxes before transferring them back to the pallet. 

FANUC’s iRVision calibration-free “No-Cal” option simplifies set up of 2D robotic guidance applications by eliminating the need for calibration grids and frames, making vision easy to use and less expensive to integrate.

“The FANUC CR-35iA collaborative robot allows shared workspace between an operator and the interactive robot,” said Greg Buell, product manager, FANUC America. “The highly-sensitive robot gently stops if it comes in contact with the operator, allowing the robot and human to work side by side; in fact, FANUC currently has units running in production at General Motors.”

The CR-35iA robot was developed to help manufacturers solve ergonomic challenges by handling applications that are physically demanding for humans, such as heavy lifting.  In the automotive industry, for example, workers are required to lift spare tires into vehicles on the assembly line.  “The CR-35iA can work alongside the employees assigned to this task to help reduce injuries associated with repetitive or heavy lifting,” added Buell.   

Certified to meet the requirements of ISO 10218-1:2011, FANUC’s CR-35iA collaborative robot can work in a variety of applications alongside human workers including: machine tending, handling heavy payloads that require lift assist devices or custom equipment, higher payload mechanical assembly, palletizing or packing, and tote or carton handling. 

The CR-35iA robot offers a wide range of collaborative and safety features and benefits, including:

  • Industry’s first 35 kg payload collaborative robot that can work with humans in a shared workspace without safety fences.
  • Works in cooperation with a human operator in a variety of applications including assembly and heavy-duty part transfer.
  • Stops safely when it touches a human operator.
  • Soft green cover minimizes impact force and prevents human operators from being pinched.
  • Certified to meet the requirements of international standards ISO 10218-1.
  • Supports FANUC’s latest intelligent functions such as iRVision.
  • Designed with the same high reliability as FANUC’s conventional robots.

FANUC iRVision 

FANUC iRVision is a truly integrated, plug-and-go vision system that runs on the standard CPU of every FANUC R-30iB controller without any additional hardware.  A single source solution developed and supported by FANUC, iRVision offers easy setup 

and operation for factory environments requiring 2D and 3D guidance, error proofing, visual tracking, and quality control – all with FANUC’s world-renowned reliability.

The high-speed 3D Area Sensor provides a detailed 3D map in one quick vision shot.

It’s an easy-to-use vision tool allowing setup through the iPendant in a matter of minutes. The 3D Area Sensor is available in two variants – The 3DA/1300 for a wider range of view, and the compact 3DA/400 for small to medium size applications. Both models are equipped with a higher-resolution mode for greater 3D location precision. “All of the hardware and software is designed by FANUC specifically for FANUC robots, allowing us to provide our customers a wide range of solutions to meet their production needs,” added Buell.

Next Generation R-30iB Controller

The FANUC R-30iB Controller uses high-performance hardware and the latest advances in network communications, integrated iRVision, and motion control functions.  The R-30iB Controller features FANUC’s exclusive and easy-to-use iPendant with 4D graphics.  The iPendant displays process information and the actual process path directly on the iPendant screen, enabling easier setup and troubleshooting. Based on the latest FANUC Series 30iB CNC Controller, the R-30iB Robot Controller is compact, providing customers a significant space savings.  The R-30iB Controller is also energy efficient, requiring less power consumption than previous models, and available with an optional power regeneration feature.

The Collaborative robot will be available for general release in North America later in 2015.   

About FANUC America Corporation

FANUC America Corporation is a subsidiary of FANUC CORPORATION in Japan and provides industry-leading CNC systems, robotics, and ROBOMACHINEs. FANUC’s innovative technologies help manufacturers maximize productivity, reliability, and profitability. Headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan, FANUC America has facilities throughout North and South America. Learn more at www.fanucamerica.com or explore collaborative robots at crx.fanucamerica.com.

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