Dual-arm robot works collaboratively with humans

ABB has introduced YuMi®, which the company says is the world’s first truly collaborative dual-arm industrial robot.

While the robot was specifically designed to meet the flexible and agile production needs of the consumer electronics industry, it has equal application in any small-parts assembly environment thanks to its dual arms, flexible hands, universal parts feeding system, camera-based part location, lead-through programming, and motion control.

The robot has a lightweight yet rigid magnesium skeleton covered with a floating plastic casing wrapped in soft padding to absorb impacts. It is compact, with human dimensions and human movements. If it senses an unexpected impact, such as a collision with a co-worker, it can pause its motion within milliseconds, and the motion can be restarted again via remote control.