New ABB Robots for Material Handling and Assembly

As labor shortages in the manufacturing industries continue to swell, a continued uptick in demand for robotics is expected. Along with this surge in robot hardware, growth in accompanying software intelligence is also expected to help make robots more adaptable to new applications and allow less experienced users to more easily operate them. Two new robots from ABB—the IRB 5710 and IRB 5720—have been developed to address these industry issues. According to the company, the new robots offer position repeatability of 0.04-0.05 mm, path repeatability of 0.1-0.14 mm, and path accuracy of 1-1.2 mm, making them faster and more accurate than other robots in their class. In addition, their software intelligence allows them to be mounted in numerous configurations, including floor, angled, inverted, and semi-shelf, increasing design flexibility. Both robots are available in eight variants, with payloads ranging from 70-180 kg and reaches from 2.3-3 m. ABB notes that both robots are designed for material handling, machine tending, and assembly production tasks in applications such as forging, rubber, plastics, and metal fabrication.