The Future Is Here Today...Robots, Genetics, AI, Longevity, Singularity

Adept Quattro Becomes World’s Fastest Robot (Video)

View Comments

by Aaron Saenz on November 5th, 2009
Adept Quattro - world's fastest packaging robot.

Adept Quattro - world's fastest packaging robot.

Watch out Flexpicker, there’s a new quick draw robot in town. According to the latest press release from Adept Technology(NASDAQ: ADEP) their new Quattro s650 is the fastest packing robot ever built. Working at over 300 cycles per minute, this new bot sorts, stacks, and places product like a mad man. Check out the video from BotJunkie after the break.

The secret to Quattro’s success is its four arms, one more than Flexpicker, which allow it to move precisely under higher accelerations. It also has a higher load capacity (>2kg) and slightly better range of motion in all three dimensions. Hopefully we won’t see a race to increase arms on industrial robots they way we’ve seen blades added to razors (though the use of “quattro” implies a “cinque”). Still, there’s no doubt that Adept’s pursuit of increasing speed and accuracy isn’t going to stop and is likely to push its competitors towards the same end. Quattro is the fastest, but for how long?

Read More

The FlexPicker: Industrial Robot Built for Speed – Video

View Comments

by Andrew Kessel on July 9th, 2009
This was a triumph...

This was a triumph...

Over the last few months, there has been very little showing on industrial robots here at Singularity Hub. That is truly a terrible circumstance, as some of the best and most innovative robots are being put to task in the industrial setting. Well, consider this the start of that wrong righted and take a look at ABB Robotics’ FlexPicker. As the name suggests, this nimble bot can grab anything that is put in its path (via conveyer belt) and gently place it in its proper space. Now, this might not seem all that revolutionary: even tiny kids can play the Milton-Bradley game Perfection. Why not just stick them on the assembly line and forego the cost of the robot? But the FlexPicker is oh so much more than that.

This thing is even faster than that kid with ADHD who just can’t sit still. For payloads of less than 100 grams, like small plastic pieces or pills, the FlexPicker takes just three tenths of a second to perform its task. That means that that by the time you can take the fastest Porsche 911 from zero to sixty miles per hour (about 4 seconds), the FlexPicker can pick up and move 13 objects and be well on the way to number 14. Don’t believe it? Take a look at the video from BotJunkie:

Read More

« Older Entries