Any UR5 users cross shop between the two? I am interested in why one over the other? Let me know what you guys think. Thanks.
UR5 vs Sawyer
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dyno20 -
June 16, 2017 at 10:46 PM -
Thread is Unresolved
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Hello d21x
I have both robots in my company (Universal and Sawyer)
Universal Pros: Can lift more payload than Sawyer.
Universal Cons: is not fast to get it program. And Can only do one Job at the time.Sawyer Pros: Two Arms running two jobs simultaneously. Friendly to Program and Faster.
Sawyer Cons: Cost 1/3 over the cost of Universal and Fragile if you crash it.I hope this gives you an idea to compare both.
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alfamoto,
Thanks for the pros and cons.
How is the support from UR and Rethink? Were you able to get replacement parts fairly quick?
You say Sawyer is fragile, did something break and how hard was it to replace?
Do you use any vision with the robots?
Did you also consider a Fanuc CR robot?
Thanks.
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I can answer just part of your question, and add a little insight.
- Both UR and Rethink work through distributors, which is different than most larger, industrial companies like KUKA, etc where you can buy parts directly. So, it really depends on your distributor (they order directly from UR or Rethink), but in the past I have gotten parts in a few weeks; I have never needed to overnight a part to keep something running. The worst that happened was my UR pendant was dropped (from just a few feet in the air off a table) and the screen broke. I replaced it with a new screen and a bumper quickly enough and in the meantime could hook up a regular monitor and mouse to navigate the menus. I guess my advice from that is invest the $500 in the screen bumper and save yourself the cost of a $4-5k screen.
- Personally I find the UR easy enough to program next to the Sawyer's interface, and you get a lot more in-depth options for logical commands and custom functions with the UR. As a programmer, the functionality of the Sawyer (and previously the Baxter robot) leave a lot to be desired.
- The Sawyer has a built-in camera, but you are limited to the few tasks that Rethink has focused on such as finding parts and inspecting parts, though they put a lot of limitations on the vision system functions. If you need to read letters, barcodes or have a specific part shape that you are inspecting for then a secondary Cognex or Keyence or {insert preferred vision system vendor here} system will give you exactly what you need and is fairly easy to interface with a UR. You could, of course, also have a standalone vision system with the Sawyer.
- UR also has a great developer program called "UR+" where companies that sell grippers, software, vision, arm covers, etc. that are "plug-and-play". Sawyer limits you to either Rethink's parallel gripper or Rethink's pneumatic gripper. Both of these grippers from Rethink can handle a lot of different parts, but with the UR you have a huge variety to choose from.
- Sawyer comes with its own base; UR needs to be mounted to a table or have a base built for it to stand on the floor.
Long story short: The Sawyer limits your options for grippers and programming but is generally easier to get up and running quickly. The UR has a lot of flexibility and the ability to change grippers and other functionality when setting up and application or if it needs to be re-deployed to another task; it is also, in my opinion, better engineered.Also, I think the previous person mentioned 2 arms on the Sawyer; it only has one. The Baxter robot has 2 arms.
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Now that Rethink releases an SDK for the Sawyer, is the programming better?