Students and young engineers from around 40 universities and research institutes brought a wide variety of robots to the RoboCup German Open 2018 in Magdeburg, sponsored by igus. Systems from all over the world in live operation, from small humanoid robots to table-high transport robots, gave an insight into how far robotics and artificial intelligence have come. They were to compete against each other in various disciplines, such as soccer, simulated rescue missions or intralogistics tasks.

Aachen student team Carologistics wins the logistics league

Lubrication- and maintenance-free high-performance plastics are used in many of these robots. This was also the case for the igus-sponsored Carologistics team, which took first place in the Logistics League. The robots from Aachen had to perform logistics tasks that occur in a smart factory. The robots communicated with each other and found their way around a 112 square meter field without help, transported rings and caps between assembly stations and assembled products at the end. Teamwork par excellence. In the new intralogistics robots, drylin linear modules are now used in the three-axis control of the gripper. In addition, an electric linear axis with a spindle motor and a dryspin spindle, which ensures precision when picking up and placing the products. igus also supported the B-Human team from the University of Bremen and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in the Standard League, in which robots compete against each other on the soccer pitch. Last year's winner took 3rd place and, like Carologistics, will compete against teams from all over the world at the World Championships in Montréal, Canada, in June.

Modular kits for low-cost robots

The Cologne-based motion plastics specialist is no longer an unknown quantity in the robotics industry. In addition to equipping industrial robots with plastic energy chains and highly flexible cables, the company has set itself the goal of providing users with fast and cost-effective automation. At the Hannover Messe 2018, igus presented the robolink Apiro. Gearboxes with linear motion as well as inverted and conventional worm gearboxes are planned in four different sizes and can be combined with each other as required thanks to their high modularity. This means that even complicated movements and ideas can be implemented with the new modular system. The robolink ReBeL is also new. The new concept differs fundamentally from the other robolink joints and enables robot builders to create new and particularly cost-effective solutions in the field of service robotics. Instead of stepper motors, brushless DC motors (BLDC motors) are used in the lightweight plastic shaft gearboxes. kp