Optimizing Cobot Performance with Low-Coherence Interferometry
Cobots, or collaborative robots, have earned their place in manufacturing and assembly, laser welding, material handling, and quality inspection, helping to increase productivity and overcome workforce shortages. Relatively low-cost, versatile, and compact, cobots from companies like Fanuc, Universal Robots, ABB Robotics, and others offer an easy entry point to automation for many companies but can present challenges in achieving the precision needed for discrete jobs, particularly in quality assurance and visual inspection.
Low-coherence interferometry presents an opportunity for cobot companies to measure, calibrate, increase precision, and open new markets for general-purpose cobots.
In this study, a 6-axis collaborative robot with a 946 mm reach is mounted with a low-coherence interferometry (LCI) probe and used to map the robot’s movement, identifying deviations from the ideal motion paths.
David Compertore, Lumetrics, SPIE Optics & Photonics 2024: Quantifying Micron-Level Robotic Movement Errors Using Low-Coherence Interferometry
The parameters for the study’s setup included:
- Motion: Linear, circular, arching
- Orientations: Tangential and radial
- Directions: Forward and back
- Positions: Near, mid, and far
- Speeds: 2mm/sec and 8mm/sec
The paper demonstrates that non-contact interferometry is a viable tool for detecting errors, improving repeatability, and offering collaborative robot manufacturers and their ecosystem partners the data to understand and troubleshoot movement for common applications.
Non-Contact Interferometry for AI and Automation
Low-coherence interferometry, in the form of an OptiGauge II optical probe mounted on a cobot, works by splitting a light beam into two paths: one that reflects off the sample and another that travels a reference path. When these two beams are recombined, they produce an interference pattern that can be analyzed to track movement and detect deviations from the intended path. This offers a useful tool to cobot OEMs and integration partners to calibrate and improve precision, enabling new applications and expanding market share for cobots.
Expanding Applications for Cobot Companies and their Partner Ecosystems
OptiGauge II non-contact interferometry can help collaborative robot OEMs and their partner integrators open new markets and applications by providing the data needed to accurately accomplish specific movements.
COMMENTS