Yaskawa and Clearpath partner to develop mobile manipulation solution

Yaskawa and Clearpath have partnered to develop a mobile machine tending and material movement solution ideal for shop floor environments.

This fully integrated solution will feature a Motoman MH12 robot equipped with end-of-arm tool and vision system, mounted on Clearpath’s OTTO 1500 self-driving vehicle. This project is currently under development and supported under the advanced research division of Clearpath.

“Our partnership with Clearpath will provide industry with a robust, tightly integrated solution for moving robots to the work in a very flexible and dynamic way,” said Roger Christian, divisional leader, new product development at Yaskawa Motoman. “This autonomous modular solution provides users an alternative to arranging the work to a fixed robot station.”

The MH12 robot features a 12 kg payload capacity, hollow wrist for reliable EOAT cable management and a 1,440-mm horizontal reach.

The OTTO 1500 offers a payload capacity of 3,300 lbs. and is built with industrial grade components. It is designed to increase throughput, reduce operating costs and remain flexible with the changing needs of material flow processes.

“We’re really excited to partner with Yaskawa to develop the future of mobile manipulation and collaborative robots,” said Matt Rendall, chief executive officer at Clearpath. “Combining our cutting-edge self-driving industrial vehicles with Yaskawa’s industry-leading robot arms will enable a new category of automation for machine tending.”

The solution will provide natural feature navigation, so there is no need to add fiducials or reflectors to the operating environment. The system is reconfigurable to accommodate changing operational preferences and/or changing facility infrastructure. It is also easily redeployable between various processes due to increase or decrease in production volume.

This solution will be introduced at AUTOMATICA 2016 (Messe München | Munich, Germany | June 21-24, 2016). For more information, please visit Yaskawa’s booth (Hall B6 | booth 502). Additionally, the solution will be introduced in the United States at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (McCormick Place | Chicago, Illinois | September 12-17, 2016). Please visit Yaskawa’s booth (N-6600).