Delta robot

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Delta robot of the FlexPicker series by ABB

Sketchy, a portrait-drawing delta robot[1]

A delta robot is a type of

end effector.[3] In contrast, a Stewart platform can change the orientation of its end effector.[3]

Delta robots have popular usage in picking and packaging in factories because they can be quite fast, some executing up to 300 picks per minute.[4]

History

Commercial pick and place robots

The delta robot (a parallel arm robot) was invented in the early 1980s by a research team led by professor

chocolate maker, a team member wanted to develop a robot to place pralines in their packages.[6]
The purpose of this new type of robot was to manipulate light and small objects at a very high speed, an industrial need at that time.

In 1987, the Swiss company Demaurex purchased a license for the delta robot and started the production of delta robots for the

ABB Flexible Automation
started selling its delta robot, the FlexPicker. By the end of 1999, delta robots were also sold by Sigpack Systems.

In 2017, researchers from

miniaturized it with piezoelectric actuators to 0.43 grams for 15 mm x 15 mm x 20 mm, capable of moving a 1.3 g payload around a 7 cubic millimeter workspace with a 5 micrometers precision, reaching 0.45 m/s speeds with 215 m/s² accelerations and repeating patterns at 75 Hz.[8]

Design

Delta robot kinematics (green arms are fixed length, at 90° to their blue axis that they rotate about)
Over-actuated planar delta robot.

The delta robot is a

parallel robot, i.e. it consists of multiple kinematic chains connecting the base with the end-effector. The robot can also be seen as a spatial generalisation of a four-bar linkage.[9]

The key concept of the delta robot is the use of parallelograms which restrict the movement of the end platform to pure translation, i.e. only movement in the X, Y or Z direction with no rotation.

The robot's base is mounted above the workspace and all the

direct drive
).

Since the actuators are all located in the base, the arms can be made of a light composite material. As a result of this, the moving parts of the delta robot have a small inertia. This allows for very high speed and high accelerations. Having all the arms connected together to the end-effector increases the robot stiffness, but reduces its working volume.

The version developed by

degrees of freedom:[7]
three translations and one rotation. In this case a fourth leg extends from the base to the middle of the triangular platform giving to the end effector a fourth, rotational degree of freedom around the vertical axis.

Currently other versions of the delta robot have been developed:

The majority of delta robots use rotary actuators. Vertical linear actuators have recently been used (using a linear delta design) to produce a novel design of

3D printer.[13][14]
These offer advantages over conventional leadscrew-based 3D printers of quicker access to a larger build volume for a comparable investment in hardware.

Applications

Large delta-style 3D printer[15]

Industries that take advantage of the high speed of delta robots are the food, pharmaceutical and electronics industry.[16][17] For its stiffness it is also used for surgery, in particular, the Surgiscope is a delta robot used as a microscopic holder system.[18]

The structure of a delta robot can also be used to create

3D printers.[20]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Delta robots.
  1. ^ "Sketchy, a home-constructed drawing robot". Jarkman.
  2. ^ Bonev, I. (2001) Delta Parallel Robot — the Story of Success, Online article available at http://www.parallemic.org/Reviews/Review002.html
  3. ^ a b Bonev, I. The True Origins of Parallel Robots. Online article available at http://www.parallemic.org/Reviews/Review007.html
  4. ^ "Robotics News & Articles".
  5. ^ US 4976582, Clavel, Reymond, "Device for the movement and positioning of an element in space", published 1990-12-11, assigned to Sogeva SA 
  6. ^ Laure-Anne Pessina (7 March 2012). "Reymond Clavel, creator of the Delta Robot reflects on his career". EPFL. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b Clavel, R. (1991) Conception d'un robot parallèle rapide à 4 degrés de liberté. PhD Thesis, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
  8. IEEE
    Spectrum.
  9. ^ Merlet, J.-P., Parallel Robots, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
  10. ^ Miller, K., "Modeling of Dynamics and Model-Based Control of DELTA Direct-Drive Parallel Robot," Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 344-352, 1995.
  11. ^ "Gallery of robots - prof. Reymond Clavel"
  12. ^ Reymond CLAVEL. "Robots parallèles" Archived 20 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Johann Rocholl (6 February 2012). "Rostock (delta robot 3D printer)". Thingiverse.
  14. ^ Mike Szczys (13 July 2012). "3D printing with a delta robot that seems to simplify the concept".
  15. ^ "Hoosier Daddy – The Largest Delta 3D Printer in the World". 3D Printer World. Punchbowl Media. 23 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  16. ^ "Delta Parallel Robot - the Story of Success". www.parallemic.org. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  17. ^ "New Delta Robots Handle Primary Food Packaging". Packaging World. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  18. S2CID 17649458
    . Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  19. ^ Sunny Bains (8 August 2007). "Feeling virtual worlds".
  20. S2CID 224881163
    .
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