Metalex Vietnam 2015 showcases breakthrough in robotics

With nine years of operation on the Vietnamese market, Metalex Vietnam is the grandest event and platform for all metalworking solutions, encouraging more than 10,000 industrialists to invest into the technology of metalworking and machining tools every year.

For the first time in Asia, industrialists will get to experience a new working environment where humans and robots can safely handle tasks side-by-side, such as assembling components with far more dexterity and flexibility than the last generation of assembly automation.

YuMi is intentionally designed to resemble its human counterparts, encouraging friendly and non-threatening work environment along with a compact, dual-arm body that does not require more space than a human workstation. Each magnesium arm flexes on seven axes in order to achieve human-like movements and dexterity. Hence, this allows YuMi to perform with the flexibility and agility demanded by manufacturers of the electronics industry.

ABB Robotics’ implementation of dual-arms, flexible hands, universal parts feeding system, camera-based part location, and cutting-edge motion control make YuMi equally suitable for any small parts assembly environment.

Another notable breakthrough function made to redefine the automation industry is YuMi’s inherent safety system. YuMi is equipped with a lightweight, yet rigid magnesium skeleton covered with a plastic casing and wrapped in soft padding. This helps YuMi absorb unexpected impact to a high extent. However, should YuMi detect any unexpected impact, such as a collision of workers, the system will halt its motion which can be restarted again by simply pressing a button. Although installed with revolutionary safety features, YuMi is still accurate and quick, capable of returning to the same point in space over and over again to within 0.02mm accuracy and moving at the maximum velocity of 1,500mm per second.

This integration of speed, agility and sensory perceptibility ensures the safety of human co-workers in the production line and in fabricating cells. According to ABB, YuMi is built to handle anything from the delicate parts of a wristwatch to the components found in tablets and mobile phones. Its makers say it performs with an accuracy which enables it to thread a needle.

Duangdej Yuaikwarmdee, deputy managing director and general manager Vietnam of Reed Tradex Co., Ltd., said that, “Lightweight and flexible robot arms that are inexpensive and safe to work alongside human workers are one of the hottest topics in industrial robotics today. ABB has been working on their two-armed YuMi robot since 2006. YuMi has vision, sensitive force control feedback, built-in safety features, and training and programming methods by teaching rather than coding. In the concept of "collaborative robots", the participation of ABB Robotics with YuMi at Metalex Vietnam this year promises to provide an interesting experience to Vietnamese industrialists.”