Robot brand selection

[sl99]

Hello!
I am looking for a SCARA robot with arm length about 350mm.
Candidates are:
Intelligent Actuator

http://www.intelligentactuator.com/products/SCARA/Default.asp

Epson

http://www.robots.epson.com/

Yamaha

http://www.yamaharobotics.com/scara/250-400xc/index.html

What are pros and cons of each?
Intelligent Actuator has by far the lowest price, and seems to be an OK package.
They are very close by technical specifications; programming seems to be very similar too. What about reliability of each brand?

Thanks in advance

 

[tygerdawg]

I've used Yamahas, good little package. Powerful controller, made for programming from the pendant but can do offline. Not flashy like Denso Robotics pendant, but good solid simple machine.

I stick with Yamaha because those 4th-grade educated technicians on 3rd shift who support it can figure it out and don't call me at 300AM saying "Hey dude your robot don't work!" <G>

Yam's support seems to be pretty good.

But remember at that level, the market is pretty much a commodity and it's all "the same wine, different bottles". Perhaps a better question is to ask where do you want to be in 5 years with your robot selection? Then consider the different companies and see if they fit your long term goals. THAT is the real consequence of your selection.

TygerDawg

 

[sl99]

Tyger,
Thanks for the reply.

The selection process I am going thru is the same as choosing Ford or Chevy. It is just a matter of preference.
Yamaha has a very nice package. Sales rep told that quill support on YK350X minimizes time that robot needs to settle in position. It is quite important for me because I am planning to use 2 vision systems cameras on the flange attached to the quill. I have to check if it is the real problem
It seems to me that IAI has more standard I/Os then Yamaha.
I am working with very light and small parts 0.13”Dia x 0.05”Thk max, so payload is not a big concern. I do not see product changing that much in the feature, at least the shape of it.
What is the life expectancy for those robots?
Your feedback on support is very important. Thanks again!

 

[tygerdawg]

Life expectancy? Gorsh, I dunno. You'd have to try to get the robot manufacturer Marketing data or some end-user opinions on that.

But beware: I used to work for a robot company and they quoted Mean Time Between Failure MTBF 20K hours and also Mean Time To Repair MTTR 30 minutes. Do the arithmetic, you'll see that 20K hours ain't much time before that gizmo bites the dust.

The MTBF was bogus of course, developed empirically from vendor catalog data or some such nonsense for Marketing purposes. The MTTR was based on actual repair time data. We got involved with some semiconductor companies and THOSE guys sic'd their Reliability Engineers on us and tore our data and claims limb from limb. It wasn't pretty. The end result was that the 20K hours meant 20K hours if the robot was going at full speed with full payload and in all geometric configurations, THEN it would statistically fail at 20K hours. Any other run-time condition (which is ALL of them) you would have to de-rate the 20K hours....say for example 200K hours if all you were doing with the robot was simple low speed pick and place jobs. Statistics...ya gotta luv'em.

Hope that gives you some insight.


TygerDawg

 

[sl99]

Could you recommend a vision systems integrator/vendor that specialises in small parts inspection (0.1" dia. x 0.05" hights), detection of chips, cracks, discolorations, etc.
Thanks

 

[Barry1961]

My vote is for Yamaha.

Barry1961