The Future of Industrial Robots: Towards Platformization

墨算未来

The evolution of technology predicts the future trends.

In industries such as automotive, electronics, chemicals, food, and machinery, industrial robots can replace humans in performing various dangerous, heavy, and harsh tasks. With the continuous expansion of the industrial robot market, companies are showing diversification and integration in technology to improve product performance and production efficiency. This article explains the development trends of industrial robots from the perspectives of types and main technologies, and looks forward to their development trends, hoping to assist companies and investors in our country.

Currently, there are four main categories of industrial robots.

Classification by Power Used

There are mainly three types: 1) General type, driven by human power or electricity; 2) Manual control type, which can be operated manually; 3) Servo-driven type, which relies on servo motors to move joints.

Among these, manual operation is the most common, accounting for over 70% of the market share. With the continuous development and popularity of electric drive technology, the proportion of industrial robots driven by electricity is gradually increasing, which will become the main theme of the industrial robot market development in the coming period.

Classification by Production Process

1. An industrial robot mainly used in automating flexible production processes. This method features a variety of products and small batches, with higher requirements for product dimensions and shapes, meeting the needs of small batch and diversified production.

2. Industrial robots for small batches and multiple varieties are mainly applied in large-scale production, characterized by high automation and precision. This type of robot also has high work efficiency and broad application prospects in fields such as electronic information manufacturing, food processing, and garment manufacturing.

Classification by Joint Structure

Industrial robots can be divided into dual-arm, bipedal, and unipedal based on their joint structure.

A dual-arm robotic hand can manipulate two different directions simultaneously. Due to its simple structure and agile movements, it finds wide applications in logistics, warehousing, and healthcare. Bipedal robots are equipped with speed reduction devices or motors between their legs, mimicking human walking functions, and are widely used in the automotive industry. Unipedal robots have broad applications in automotive manufacturing, electronic information, and semiconductor industries.

Due to their structural complexity, they require high-precision control. In industrial automation, with the advent of Industry 4.0, the demands for production efficiency, safety, and product quality in industries such as automotive manufacturing, aerospace, and healthcare are increasing, making industrial automation a significant driving force for industry development.

Classification by Drive Mode

1. Direct current drive: driven directly by motors, also known as direct current drive. Its characteristics include a simple structure, but due to the larger size of the motor and the heat generated, it is not suitable for high-precision control;

The advantages are: smaller motor size, lower heat generation, easy control, and faster operating speed; the structure is simple, control is flexible, and cost is low, but the manufacturing difficulty is high.

2. Electric drive: a mechanical hand directly driven by a motor, also known as electric drive. This device has advantages such as simple structure, easy control, and speed. However, the motor is large, generates significant heat, and is difficult to control, with a structure that is not compact enough.

This type of structure is more complex, and compared to direct drive, control is more complicated; it is also expensive and difficult to produce.

3. Brushless DC motor (BLDC) is a new type of permanent magnet brushless motor.

Its working principle utilizes magnetic fields to generate electromagnetic torque in the permanent magnets, enabling the motor to rotate. A BLDC motor consists of a rotor and a stator, with a set of magnets installed inside the stator and copper wires or coils on the rotor, converting electromagnetic force into torque through internal electromagnetic coils. When the direction of the armature current changes, the magnetic flux generated on the armature also changes. Therefore, the rotation direction of the rotor can be controlled by changing the relative position between the armature and the magnetic field, and it can maintain a relatively stable speed within a rotation cycle.

Compared to traditional motors, BLDC motors have advantages such as small size, light weight, high power density, and simple control. The use of permanent magnet rotors gives BLDC motors higher power density and torque density.

Future Directions

Currently, domestic industrial robots have been widely applied in industries such as automotive, electronics, and 3C, and future development will focus on enhancing the breadth and depth of their applications, specifically:

(1) Improving overall performance. Based on this, in response to different application needs and industry characteristics, in-depth research on motion control technology and control system technology will be conducted to enhance product performance.

(2) Enhancing the intelligence of industrial robots. In future work, we will continue to increase the application of artificial intelligence technology in industrial robots to improve automation levels and reduce labor costs.

In the future, industrial robots will trend towards platformization like PCs and smartphones, with implications for efficient programming, rapid deployment, flexible applications, and cost reduction.

Against this backdrop, adopting appropriate pricing strategies will enhance the overall competitiveness of enterprises and promote sustainable development.

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