Mecademic releases new firmware for its tiny robot

Mecademic has released the latest version of the firmware – 8.4 – for its tiny Meca500 industrial robotic arm.

The company says this update “prioritizes the features most requested by our user community and is provided free of charge”.

The update enables the robot with multi-rotation with cartesian moves.

Although rotating Joint 6 beyond the ±180° has always been possible with the Meca500 R3, it was limited to Joint-move-commands. Now, both point-to-point and linear commands can be used outside of this limit.

This update makes it easier to use the Meca500 for dispensing, capping, testing, and any other application that requires moving Joint 6 beyond the previous default limits.

Other new features and benefits are listed below.

User-defined joint limits: Users can now redefine the software limits of individual joints. This feature can define a safe robot workspace for your applications.

User-defined torque limits (sensitivity): It is now possible to lower the torque limits of individual joints. This is very useful when working with sensitive components, such as test tubes.

Real-time monitoring data: Although available as a beta feature in previous versions of the firmware, real-time monitoring data is now released as an official feature. This feature enables better monitoring and coordination of the robot with other components.

Request (Get) commands: Request commands are now available for all Set commands in the robot. Now users can confirm if parameters were successfully set as commanded prior to execution.