Robot Cell moving day-How to secure for shipment

    I'm moving a complete 7' x 7' x 7' kawasaki robot cell, the welding torch has been removed from the wrist, so there is no load on it. the unit has been de-powered, and is just hanging out in space, not too far off the base, and the arm folded down. The robot does not appear to have any play in the arm it is rigid in place. Can I transport it in this position, or do I need to block or strap the arm prior to transport? The robot model is F06L. Thanks!

  • MOM December 12, 2023 at 1:02 AM

    Approved the thread.

    And for another opinion...

    When I was involved with shipping arms all across North America, we had the following guidelines:

    • even if we specified an "air ride van" for shipping via truck with a softer ride, we always assumed the arm would be subject to severe road vibrations and those vibrations could possibly damage joint transmission gear teeth through repetitive stressing
    • arm would be securely bolted to machine base or heavy shipping pallet
    • arm would be tucked to minimize extended arm link mass that, when subject to road vibrations, would impart inertial loads on the links that would create unwanted torque and possibly damage gear teeth...tucking position was chosen to minimize this effect and we never sent arms in extended vertical configuration
    • we would always use some type of heavy padding in the tucked position...polyurethane foam, layers of heavy bubble-wrap, blue/pink house insulation foam, or even folded shipping blankets to help mitigate vibration-induced relative motion...the inertia would be absorbed through the housing element upon which it rested
    • Once a bunch of Valedictorians shipped our equipment during winter on an open flat bed trailer. The equipment arrived at the destination covered with winter salt spray and rusted over. After that, we sprayed preservative on all unpainted surfaces and shrink-wrapped everything

    Thanks for all the input here. The robot is in a similar pose to that shown in post 2, but Joint 3 is a little more open and the arm is slightly more cantilevered out in front, Perhaps +10-15 degrees but with no attachment in place. Its only being moved 20-30 miles, and the brakes appear to be on as there is no manual deflection possible in the arm. I'm stuck with this configuration as the power is disconnected. I'm assuming the brakes are on during while the unit is powered down. is it better to wedge and secure a block under the arm between it and the integrated fab table because of its current pose, or are the brakes typically enough to transport even when its slightly off from ideal pose? I almost feel like any attempt to secure it will impart more force on the arm than just relying on the brakes, but I'm not sure which is worse.

    Thanks!

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