"Our goal is to make access to the fascinating world of cobots as easy as possible," explains Prof. Dr. Markus Glück, Managing Director Research & Development/CINO at Schunk in Lauffen am Neckar. "That's why we will successively expand the Schunk co-act gripper kit for collaborative applications with powerful programming modules and plug-ins for collaborative industrial robots, which will make integrating the components at the end of the robot arm just as easy and flexible as installing the cobot."

The Co-act-EGP-C gripper is the first industrial gripper to be certified and approved for collaborative operation by the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV). © Schunk

The Co-act-EGP-C grippers can be addressed and parameterized in several ways: as usual via the central control system or - with the help of the plugin - via an intuitive user interface. The gripper can be commissioned in just a few minutes. It can then receive data from or send data to the higher-level control system.

If Co-act-EGP-C grippers are used on robots from Universal Robots, the control is already integrated into the robot's user interface and the components can be set up directly via the robot's control panel.

With three different geometries, the interchangeable inserts of the Co-act-EGP-C gripper enable a quick and flexible start to automation. © Schunk

Standardized attachment fingers
To ensure a high degree of flexibility, especially in the initial phase of collaborative applications, Schunk is also expanding its Co-act range with standardized attachment fingers that can be equipped with universally usable interchangeable inserts in different geometries. The attachment fingers make it easier to get started with automation and enable rapid success without users having to get lost in the details.

The Co-act-EGP-C gripper is supplied as a completely pre-assembled unit with a suitable interface for the Kuka LBR iiwa, UR and Fanuc CR robots. It meets the requirements of EN ISO 10218-1/-2 and ISO/TS 15066 and has been certified by the German Social Accident Insurance DGUV for use in collaborative applications.

The gripper can be controlled via digital I/O. Thanks to an operating voltage of 24 volts DC, it is also suitable for mobile use. The complete control and power electronics are installed inside the gripper so that it does not take up any space in the control cabinet. In order to make collaboration with the operator as fluid and intuitive as possible, the gripper is equipped with LED lighting in traffic light colors, which the user can use to signal the current status of the module. The certified small parts gripper is available in sizes 25, 40, 50 and 64 with finger strokes of three, six, eight and ten millimetres and workpiece weights of 0.19, 0.7, 1.05 and 1.3 kilograms. as