scara robot advice

[claya]

Am researching/setting up a pick n place system. Really like the Adept cobra & python system. Like some advice on experience. Like to find a Sacramento area local Adept user, or San Jose bay area user, we can meet with, see the operation. Get some feedback on pick n place in general. What to avoid. Setting up a production line, hand sized parts. We need a system that is: 1. fairly easy to program, can be programmed in-house 2. accommodates modularity as we expect to change the line regularly. 3. conveyor & vision inspection is integrated, PC based.

clay
claya@a--design.com

[TygerDawg]

Adept makes very fine systems.  Have been a user & a fan since the early 80's.  Have many good friends in Adept, including some very high level folks in their organization.  Adept has a very powerful controller & language that allows one to do very sophisticated tasks.  Good support structure.  A great tool to learn deep robotic programming technology that will apply to all of the others on the market.

My advice after 30 years of doing robotics:  don't get too enamored with the sexiness of high technology & sophistication.  Most likely you will also get those phone calls at 230AM with some dingbat on the 3rd Shift telling you "Your robot don't work!".  The reason:  if it is too sophisticated, then your support techs won't be able to handle it and they will always call you for help.  If Adept is the right choice for your application, then go with it.  Staubli is another contender for sophisticated needs.  But you also owe it yourself to investigate Epson & Yamaha arms.  I personally prefer Yamaha now because I can deploy an arm and walk away from it and never get those calls.

If you are a real newbie to robots, then you should convince your company to purchase a cheap used unit just for learning puposes.  In lieu of that, you should take advantage of the Application Engineering department and try to get some free practice time.