6-Axis Industrial Robot Arm

Overview

The 6-axis industrial robot arm is an articulated manipulator for welding, material handling, and assembly. Six rotary joints give it the freedom to reach a point in its workspace at almost any tool orientation, and harmonic gearing at every axis delivers the repeatability fine assembly demands. A cast-aluminium structure keeps the moving mass low while resisting the bending loads of an extended arm carrying a payload at reach.

Construction

The kinematic chain runs from a floor-mounted Base & Turntable (J1) that rotates on axis 1, up through the Lower Arm (J2) for axis 2 and the Upper Arm (J3) for axis 3, and out to the Wrist Cluster (J4/J5/J6) cluster, where axes 4, 5, and 6 provide roll, bend, and tool rotation through a spiral bevel gear train. The lower arm carries a spring/gas Counterbalance Unit that offsets gravity torque on axis 2, cutting motor and reducer load.

Every joint is driven by the same Servo Joint Drive: an AC servo with a power-off holding brake, an absolute encoder, a high-ratio strain-wave reducer, and a cross-roller output bearing that carries the combined axial, radial, and moment loads. The reducer's flexspline and circular spline differ by two teeth, producing a very high reduction with effectively zero backlash in a compact package.

Motor power, encoder feedback, and pneumatic tool air run through the Cable Dress Pack, a routed bundle protected by a flexible cable carrier. End-effectors bolt to the Tool Mounting Flange, a standard ISO 9409-1 faceplate. The arm is commanded by the external Controller Cabinet, a cabinet holding the motion-control mainboard, six servo drives, an isolation transformer, a dual-channel safety controller, field I/O, and a handheld teach pendant.