Yaskawa and Clearpath to develop logistics robot that moves around, picks stuff up and then puts them down again
Yaskawa, one of the world’s biggest makers of industrial robots, is teaming up with Clearpath to build a new type of robot that combines two disctinct technologies.
Yaskawa, founded in 1915, is known for the industrial robot arm, particularly its Motoman range.
Clearpath is a relatively new company, founded in 2009 by a few University friends in Canada.
The two companies say combining their technologies will enable the building of a robot which autonomously moves around a given area, say a warehouse, picks stuff up and them puts them back down again, preferably in exactly the place it’s meant to be.
Yaskawa and Clearpath call it “a mobile machine tending and material movement solution” and say it will be “ideal for shop floor environments”.
The new machines will fully integrate both companies’ technologies. It 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.
