While most other robots of this size use two motors and/or gears per axis, the ABB machine has only one motor and one gear for each axis. In addition, there are no gas springs – only a counterweight and mechanical springs for counter-balancing. Together, these design factors are claimed to cut the number of components, reduce the need for maintenance, and result in robots able to deliver shorter cycle times and higher accuracy.
“When designing the IRB 8700, we emphasised reach and payload, as well as performance,” says Ola Svanström, ABB product manager for large robots. “Thanks to ABB’s superior motion control technology at high moments of inertia, this – our highest ever payload robot – automatically adapts and adjusts its speed to accommodate heavy and wide parts. With a compact footprint, optimised counterweight, parallel linkages, stiff axes and fewer drive motors, the IRB 8700 keeps its momentum down, and speed up.”