They are connected between the robot arm and the end effector, after which the robot can handle sensitive materials or uneven workpieces sensitively.

"Handmade" - for many years a seal of quality for products made by hand to a high standard. While art collectors offer top prices for such unique pieces, deviations from the norm are at best tolerated in industrial production. At worst, they lead to production errors that are expensive and extremely annoying for all parties involved. The acute economic damage in such cases can be quantified - the long-term damage, once customer trust and reputation have been lost, quickly takes on an existential dimension.

Whether it's "reaching into boxes", packaging, sanding or assembly tasks: In many industrial production areas, however, companies still rely on the sensitivity of their employees and good old-fashioned manual work. Even when heavy metal workpieces or even hazardous materials have to be moved for hours on end, automation of such tasks was previously unthinkable. This is because industrial robots were too blunt to process sensitive materials, react to uneven workpieces or even operate in disorderly production environments. The high risk of production errors was out of all economic proportion to the acquisition costs of a robot.

The force-torque sensors give industrial robots sensitivity within a few minutes. (Image: Optoforce)

Large corporations reacted to this situation by relocating simple production steps to low-wage countries, while small companies with high labor costs and the quality mishmash typical of manual labor hardly stood a chance on the global market. Although costs remained low, uniform production quality was out of the question: fatal in the face of increasingly fierce competition on the market.

This problem can be solved in the future: with feeling. To be more precise: a sense of touch. The six-axis force-torque sensors Hex-E and Hex-H from Optoforce give industrial robots the sensitivity they need to handle delicate materials or uneven workpieces in just a few minutes. This enables consistently high production quality to be achieved even when automating precision tasks.

The haptic sensors are connected between the robot arm and the end effector and start working after a few simple steps (around 15 minutes): A robust layer of elastic plastic measures the forces acting along the XYZ axis. In addition to the specific new automation possibilities, the sense of touch in robots can also represent a strategic advantage for companies: Touch sensors measure around 1,000 process data per second. This enables them to prompt the robot to react in real time in the event of an acute need, for example in the case of an irregularly processed workpiece. In this way, they avoid a specific production error, which in the worst case could bring production to a standstill or even reach the customer, thus jeopardizing the company's reputation and customer trust.

The long-term strategic benefits of such measurements should not be underestimated either. Targeted evaluation of process data allows disruptive factors in production, such as irregularly processed workpieces, to be strategically identified and eliminated in the long term. The increase in process reliability can not only be measured in concrete savings in quality control and crisis management, but also have a strategic impact in the form of more satisfied customers and a better company reputation in terms of adherence to deadlines and quality. Whether this value can be quantified is up to each entrepreneur to decide. But there is no question that it is decisive for the future of a company. as