Sawyer from Rethink Robotics is the latest human-friendly robot, designed to perform detailed tasks, including manufacturing of electronic components.
The new robot could be used to test circuit boards, handle hazardous materials, maintain machines and perform other work that is impractical using human beings or traditional robots.
Sawyer is designed much like an arm, except this robotic limb is able to turn and bend along seven joints, as it reaches more than 40 inches. A "face" is also displayed on a tablet-like appendage. The robotic device, designed for use by manufacturers, weighs just 42 pounds without its pedestal, and plugs into a standard electrical outlet.
Rethink Robotics designed Sawyer as an improvement over their previous robot model, Baxter.
"Like Baxter, Sawyer is powered by the industry's best and most intuitive software platform, Intera. It features the same iconic "face" screen (with a refreshed and even more expressive design) that helps it communicate with co-workers, along with the train-by-demonstration user interface that revolutionized how robots can be deployed on factory floors," Rethink Robotics wrote on its Web site.
A Cognex camera is installed in the "wrist" of Sawyer, along with a built-in light source, allowing operators to view the performance of the robot. Another camera is included in the "head" of the robot.
High-resolution force sensors embedded in each joint within Sawyer allow the robot to "feel" its way around materials, even if the alignment or position of its target differs from predicted values. Humans teach Sawyer how to carry out tasks by holding on to its hand and performing the desired action.
The robot is designed to work in assembly lines, alongside human workers. Asia is experiencing a significant demand for robots that can perform these delicate, repetitive tasks. Labor costs there are increasing 15 to 20 percent each year, and factories are faced with employee turnover rates up to 25 percent every month.
"Baxter has done really well in certain kinds of tasks, like taking stuff off a line, or packing boxes. The feedback we've gotten from customers has been, 'We want to do more stuff the way Baxter does stuff, but we want to do it in other kinds of tasks.' And those other kinds of tasks require a robot to be able to perform a little bit differently," Jim Lawton, chief marketing officer for Rethink Robotics, said.
Sawyer will be available for commercial sale in the middle of 2015, with a starting price of $29,000. The robot is expected to operate for around 30,000 hours before replacement will be necessary.
