'Flexible' robots just became more energy 'energy efficient'

Scientists have suggested that smooth movements of industrial robots can reduce energy consumption by 40 percent.

Researcher Bengt Lennartson of the Chalmers University of Technology said that they simply let the robot move slower instead of waiting for other robots and machines to catch up before carrying out the next sequence, and added that the optimisation also determined the order in which the various operations were carried out to minimise energy consumption without reducing the total execution time.

Lennartson said that they could go into an existing robot cell and perform a quick optimisation without impacting production or the current cycle.

To achieve safe optimisation, several robots moving in the same area need to be coordinated. The optimisation tool will therefore initially identify where robots may collide, and the entry and exit positions for each collision zone, and for each robot path.

Researcher Kristofer Bengtsson said that the first test results showed a significant improvement, such as a 15 to 40 percent energy reduction, but the results are still preliminary.

Bengtsson said that the goal was to make this kind of optimization standard, and included in robots from the start.