Robot Mounting

ArigatoMrCoboto

Hi all,

I'm currently working on implementing cobots in our factory. What are some the best ways to mount a robot? The cobot is going to be used for a pick and place application. We've tried mounting the robot to a beam above the work space, also placed the cobot on the wall. Both ceiling and wall have limited the robots joint mobility. We may try placing the robot in front of the table (like the operator). What methods has the community adopted for mounting a cobot? What type of mounting does the Path feature work best for? Thank you for your time.

Patrick

matthewd92

@ArigatoMrCoboto we generally deploy our robots on a pedastal stand. It’s a 6” column of 8020 material that is secured to the floor. This allows us to have maximum joint mobility, we have robots that work high and low using these stands. We have also mounted a couple of robots directly to the table where the work is being done. This works well when the joint positions can accommodate being on a table top as you don’t worry about any misplacemrnt or movement between the robot stand and the workpiece. I’d say though that 85% of all our robots in the field are on stands that sit in front of the equipment roughly where the operator used to stand. 

mhowe

Careful with this cylinder as well, it is a common issue when mounting the robot upside down.

maxlavigueur

At Vention we have over 40+ public Robot Stand assemblies and have mounting plates for UR3, UR5 and UR10.
Check them out for inspiration; you can always customize the design to your liking, or create your own!



Max

PS: if you think a part is missing from our Parts Library and would be beneficial to others, we would be happy to publish it.

ArigatoMrCoboto

Matthew,

Thank you very much indeed for the response. 

Patrick

beginner

@matthewd92 Can you please suggest what type of mounting you use for mounting UR on Table ?
Do you bolt base of UR robot directly to table or you use dampers between robot and table?
Right now I have mounted UR on a base plate made up of aluminium, which sits on top of table and we can feel small vibration at end effector whenever it operates.
Thank you for your time.

matthewd92

If we are having the table top made we just bolt directly to the table, if it’s an existing top we will use an aluminum spacer. It’s the same plate we use to bolt to the aluminum extrusion stand we use. 

The table needs to be rigid as in motion the robot is transferring a lot of torque through that plate and so if not rigid it will cause vibration issues.  Are the vibrations you are feeling when the robot is sitting still?  If so, what type of robot? I know the UR3 used to be bad about having a vibration at the end of arm but that is mostly gone with later software releases. 

beginner

@matthewd92 Yes we are using UR3. 
There is no vibration when robot is sitting still. But when it is in motion we can feel vibration at end of robot.
I am planning to bolt UR3 to an half inch aluminium plate and then use aluminium spacer between half inch plate and table.
Do think that's right way to build a rigid base ?

Thank you for your time.

matthewd92

Is the table itself rigid?  All we use between the table and the robot is a 3/4" aluminum spacer.  If the table itself is not rigid though you may see some vibrations. If you bolt the robot to a more rigid table do you still see the vibrations, do you feel vibrations in the table as well as the robot when it is moving?

beginner

No table wasn't rigid itself so we are planning to use more rigid table.
If I understood your mounting correctly then its bolting Robot to 3/4" aluminum plate (as a table top) and placing it on table without any additional mounts or rubber dampers?

matthewd92

That is correct, its the same robot adapter plate we use for the extrusion so easy to bolt to a table top.

vhosouza

Hi guys, just a follow up on this topic as I still have a question. I'm having a hard time to choose what material to make the base for screwing the robot, is aluminium fine or steel is need? I have a robot similar to the UR5 that will be mounted in an aluminium profile vertical bar. In my initial design I use a 2-cm thick and 20-cm diameter disc spacer where I plan to screw the robot. I saw from your answers that you all use aluminium, so I assume it's a good option, right?

Also, would you expect this base to be wobbly?

Thanks for the help.

matthewd92

What payload are you going to be carrying?  How fast are you planning to move?  Do you have high accelerations?  

Hard to tell without dimensions but I’m guessing that center column is a 75mm square profile. I would expect some movement out of that. The column that we use for our UR5’s and UR10’s is a 150mm square profile and the UR10’s can cause flex in that.  We also have 150x 75 legs that are securely bolted to the floor at the end of each leg. The base is about 750mm wide cross. 

vhosouza

Thanks @matthewd92 for the quick response!

- In principle no fast movements or high accelerations, the robot will place a stimulator close to a person's head.

- Payload in the tip will be about 5kg (max for the robot)

- The vertical and horizontal profiles are 90x90mm.

- Vertical profile is 750mm long and each horizontal profiles is 600mm long (~1300 mm total length wide).

- Any comment on the material for the disc base to attach the robot (aluminium, steel type, cast iron)?

Cheers.

matthewd92

We use aluminum for all of our mounting plates, 19mm thick plate. We generally place heli-coils for the threads but that’s because our stands are designed to have the robot be taken off repeatedly as they are hired and fired. We’ve never had an issue though with threads pulling out of the aluminum and we move our robots at the upper end of accel and velocity.