Cylindrical robot: Best uses and applications in 2024

December 6, 2023
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What is a Cylindrical robot?

A Cylindrical robot is an industrial automation solution characterized by its distinctive design. It has a pivotal rotary joint in its base and a mobile prismatic joint in its arm.

Cylindrical robots are known for their compact design and space-saving structure. Its primary robotic arm is capable of dynamic vertical movement, which creates a cylindrical or longitudinal axis work envelope. This distinguishing style helps to facilitate a diverse range of applications across multiple industries. These can include manufacturing, assembly, and material handling.

A standout feature of these compact Cylindrical robots is their ability to work in confined spaces. Because of this, they're extremely valuable for tasks that require rotational symmetry around a cylindrical axis. It's important to remember, however, that this doesn't mean a Cylindrical robot is a compact robot - it's just more economical than its counterparts.

Additionally, a Cylindrical robot is usually much cheaper and mechanically straightforward than some other Industrial robots on the market.

What are they best for?

Cylindrical robots excel in jobs that need accuracy and versatility. Their design makes them excellent at tasks requiring both turning and straight-line movements.

Still, one of the best things about Cylindrical robots is how well they assemble products thanks to their up-and-down motion and ability to stretch out their robotic arm. In manufacturing, these robots are crucial for tasks like spot welding, handling die-cast machines, and managing general machine tools.

But that's not all; a Cylindrical robot can also be used for grinding processes (where you need exceptional precision) and palleting tasks, to streamline the stacking and organization of products or materials.

How do they work?

At the core of Cylindrical robots, and their design, are prismatic and rotary joints. The rotary joint at the base helps to facilitate rotational movement around a common axis. At the same time, the prismatic joint in the robot's arm enables linear motion, which allows for a series of rotational and linear movements within the cylindrical coordinate system.

The primary arm of the Cylindrical robot has agile vertical movement, which is achieved using a pneumatic cylinder.

This cylinder contracts, extending and controlling the vertical displacement of the arm, which is what gives you the necessary flexibility for precise positioning. Plus, the arm's capacity to extend or retract changes its reach. In turn, it boosts the robot's operational range in the cylindrical polar coordinate.

What drives the rotational movement of the Cylindrical robot is an intricate gear and motor system. The gears play an important role in helping the bot to move smoothly and in a more controlled way. Meanwhile, the motor provides energy to spin the bot's arm to fit the polar cylindrical coordinate system.

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Other robot types and when to use each

Articulated robots

Articulated robots have a series of links and joints, giving them a high degree of freedom (DOF) and flexibility. They have rotary joints and work in the same way as a human arm.

These robots are ideal for assembly tasks in evolving sectors like electronics and the automotive industry. They're also versatile for jobs that need a wider range of motion and perfect accuracy. Typically, Articulated bots are best for tasks where your robot needs to reach different points in a specified space.

Interested in using one of these bots for your business?

Standard Bots' RO1 is a cutting-edge Industrial robot designed to be both advanced and user-friendly. It's incredibly similar to standard Articulated robots due to its ability to move flexibly with multiple joints. However, what sets the RO1 apart is that it's focused on simplicity and affordability while also measuring up to the best bots on the market.

Gantry/Cartesian robots

A Gantry or Cartesian robot is one that moves in a linear motion along a track system. It moves along linear axes in a three-dimensional, rectangular Cartesian coordinate system. It also has a much simpler structure compared to an Articulated robotic arm.

Generally, Cartesian robots are well-suited for precise and repetitive linear movements. They can be used in pick-and-place processes, material handling, and CNC machining. They're also effective for tasks where the work area is well-defined (and linear).

SCARA robots

A Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (or SCARA robot) has two parallel rotary joints for planar motion and one prismatic joint for vertical motion.

These Industrial robots are more commonly used in assembly operations, and handling tasks that need fast and precise horizontal movements. They're also suitable for processes that use pick-and-place operations in a more confined work area. Additionally, SCARA robots are preferable when you need to complete high-speed tasks to improve your productivity.

Delta robots

A Delta robot has three arms connected to a common or singular base, which form a triangular layout. Like some of the other bots on this list, they're fantastic for high-speed and precision-based tasks.

Typically, Delta robots are used for package assembly, pick-and-place processes, and sorting in the food and electronics industries. Plus, when you need to save space on your production floor, these Industrial robots are a great choice. Delta robots are compact and fit perfectly into almost any business.

FAQs

Are there any disadvantages to using Cylindrical robots?

Although Cylindrical robots are versatile, they do have some drawbacks. One unfortunate disadvantage is that although they're economical in terms of their usage, they might take up a lot of floor space. This is mainly due to the fact that they have both vertical and rotational movements, so they may not be a great choice for smaller manufacturers with limited workspace.

They can also be much more costly than other automation solutions like the RO1 by Standard Bots, so you'll need to consider your budget before investing in a Cylindrical robot.

Are Cylindrical robots suitable for small businesses?

Cylindrical robots can be fantastic for small businesses. However, this depends on the nature of the operations the robots need to perform. While Cylindrical robots are smaller than other Industrial robots, they still need a decent amount of space to perform correctly.

Still, their versatility and ability to handle various tasks make them a valuable asset for any business that has the space.

Final thoughts

Cylindrical robots are handy automotive tools that can help boost your productivity and create a smoother workflow on the production floor. Now that you have all the information to make an informed decision on whether or not they'll work for your business, you can integrate your preferred robot type quickly and effortlessly.

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