lockA Chinese startup company has demonstrated what it calls the “first industrial robotic arm for small business”, and has raised more than $400,000 on Kickstarter.
The company describes the “DoBot M1” as a “professional SCARA based robotic arm” suitable for desktop use by small businesses, makers and hobbyists. Dobot was unveiled at CES in Las Vegas.
Manufactured by Shenzhen Yuejiang Technology, the Dobot M1 is a robotic arm with a number of extensions. The robots can also connected together to form a multi-arm system.
The company says the M1 is a “highly cost effective solution”, and is offering the “standard unit” for $1,599 on Kickstarter.
Yuejiang says the Dobot M1 can perform laser engraving, 3D printing, painting and writing. At CES, the Magician also demonstrated picking and placing using a 6D gaming mouse, which the company claims takes the robot into the industrial space.
Yuejiang has so far produced three models of robot – Dobot Magician, DobBot M1 and DoBot V1. Magician is the second generation desktop robotic arm, which initially launched in August, 2016.
The company says the its robots have high repeatability, and can be put a number of different uses by changing their end effectors.
“PC, phone, gesture, voice, even brainwaves can be used to control Dobot Magician,” says the company. “It’s easy to use – the average user is able to grasp Magician’s controls in only few minutes.”
The hand-held teaching feature lets users control the robotic arm, and teach it what to do. It has 13 extension ports, one programmable key, and 2 MB offline command storage, which all provide a range of possibilities for developers.
It also has a visual programming interface, which allows users to pile up action-instruction blocks on the screen, which generate the code. It’s the easiest way to learn coding, says the company.
The system supports major programming languages including C++, C#, Python and java, with API and pre-set modules integrated.
Launched on November 28, 2016, on Kickstarter, Dobot M1 is an industrial robotic arm with high precision for medium small-sized enterprises, says Yuejiang, which adds: “The perfect calibration of DC servo motor, harmonic reducer and kinematic algorithm inside Dobot M1 has brought the best out of Dobot M1.”
The 0.02 mm repeatability, 1.5 kg payload , 200° joint movement, 40 0mm reach will provide a professional industrial experience, adds the company.
Dobot M1 is highly expandable, says Yuejiang. With a standardized head tool port, and complete protocol, API and SDK, multiple hardware extension ports, “whatever you can imagine can now actually become real”.
A number of “user-friendly features” built in Dobot M1 allows the application of the Dobot M1 “without any knowledge of programming”, says the company.
