The controller is one of the three core components of industrial robots and serves as the brain of the robot. Its quality directly determines the performance of the robot. Therefore, whether it’s ABB, KUKA, or domestic brands like Siasun and Xinsida, major industrial robot suppliers worldwide have all taken control of the controllers into their own hands.

Next, let’s take a look at the current status of various industrial robot controller brands at home and abroad.

The IRC5 controller developed by ABB consists of a control module and a drive module, with an optional process module to accommodate custom devices and interfaces such as spot welding, arc welding, and gluing. Equipped with these three modules, the flexible controller can fully control a 6-axis industrial robot along with a servo-driven workpiece positioning device and similar equipment. To increase the number of industrial robots, simply add a drive module for each new robot, and optionally install a process module, allowing for up to four industrial robots to operate in MultiMove mode. Only two connection cables are needed between the modules: one for safety signal transmission and the other for Ethernet communication, making module connections straightforward.

The KRC4 is a new, clearly structured system architecture developed by KUKA that emphasizes the use of open and efficient data standards. All integrated safety controls (Safety Control), industrial robot controls (Robot Control), motion controls (Motion Control), logic controls (Logic Control), and process controls (Process Control) within this architecture share the same data foundation and infrastructure, enabling intelligent use and sharing. This gives the system the highest performance, upgradability, and flexibility.

KEBA is not an industrial robot manufacturer; it is one of the few non-industrial robot manufacturers in the industrial robot controller industry. Their products are industrial-grade servo control systems capable of controlling multi-degree-of-freedom industrial robots. The control system ensures real-time software operating environments through the VxWorks platform or Windows+RTX real-time extension platform, and achieves precise control of industrial robots through motion planning and motion control units that control bus-type servo drives.

The KeMotionr5000 series controllers are a complete modular controller system aimed at multi-axis motion control. The hardware includes the KeMotion controller and various peripheral modules that connect to the controller via Ethernet or bus, allowing for combinations tailored to various applications. The core part of the control system software runs on the controller hardware platform (x86 embedded microprocessor). Starting from the bottom, the OS is the VxWorks real-time operating system, which provides a foundation for the system’s real-time performance and reliability while also offering an operating environment for application software.

The FANUC Robot R-30iA is a new generation industrial robot controller developed by FANUC, featuring high performance, fast response, and strong safety capabilities. As the only industrial robot controller integrated with vision functions, it significantly reduces the costs associated with peripheral devices required for flexible production. Various powerful specialized software for spot welding, gluing, and handling developed on FANUC’s own software platform simplifies the operation of industrial robots while also providing the system with immunity against computer viruses.

Yaskawa has developed an open-structured, network-capable industrial robot controller based on PC technology. In 2016, Yaskawa also launched a robot controller equipped with artificial intelligence, capable of automatically setting welding conditions and accurately predicting the lifespan of the robot body, contributing to efficiency in startup operations and reducing downtime during mechanical obstacles.

The AI within the controller can autonomously find the best welding conditions and reflect them in the robot’s actual operations. Typically, different conditions need to be set when welding multiple positions; the new controller’s setting work section has achieved automation. In addition to welding, it also considers applications in fields requiring fine adjustments in painting, processing, and other robotic arm front-end actions.

Siasun is a giant in China’s industrial robotics sector. Its SIASUN-GRC robot controller has independent copyrights and is a practical, commercialized robot controller that is well-designed, technologically advanced, performance-oriented, reliable, and user-friendly. It utilizes AC servo drive, absolute encoder detection, and a large-screen Chinese teaching programming box, among other latest technologies, to form an advanced high-performance robot control system. The overall performance of this system has reached an internationally advanced level, making it the first commercialized robot controller in China, capable of small-batch production.

With nearly 20 years of R&D experience in electrical control, servo motors, and controllers, Xinsida has mastered robot and motion control technologies, making it one of the companies with the highest degree of autonomy among domestic robot brands. It is reported that the robot body, controller, software system, and drive control system in Xinsida’s intelligent robot system are all independently developed.

Based on a rich accumulation of CNC technology, Guangzhou CNC has mastered the complete intellectual property rights of robot controllers, servo drives, and servo motors, among which GSK-RC is a robot controller independently developed and produced by Guangzhou CNC, possessing independent intellectual property rights.

As early as 1999, Huazhong CNC developed the control system for the Huazhong Type I robot. After nearly 20 years of development, it has significant technological advantages in the three core components of controllers, servo drives, and motors. The CCR series is the robot control system mainly developed by Huazhong CNC.

GooGoo Technology began developing four-axis robot controllers in 2001 and entered the six-axis robot controller field in 2006, being one of the earliest companies in China to research robot controllers. To date, GooGoo’s control systems cover robots of various types from three to eight axes, with the most technically challenging eight-axis robot control system already capable of mass production.

Inovance Technology started with frequency converters and servos and expanded into the controller field in 2013. In 2014, Inovance Technology launched the IMC100 robot controller based on EtherCAT bus and the IS620N bus-type absolute robot servo system, currently targeting markets including small six-axis, small SCARA, and parallel robots in emerging application fields.