FANUC Robot's Serial-Link Construction Improves Flexibility

FANUC America’s M-1000iA robot combines a flexibility-increasing serial-link construction with heavy payload capacity, a mix the company says will particularly benefit its performance when handling automotive components, construction materials and battery packs for electric vehicles.

The M-1000iA’s serial-link construction enables users to extend the robot’s arm upright or rotate it backwards, movements difficult to achieve with the parallel-link mechanisms typical of heavy-payload robots. The robot can bear a 1,000 kg maximum payload with full articulation, with dual motors on the J2 and J3 axes to support the payload at large offsets from the wrist and at full extension. It sports 3,253 mm of horizontal reach and 4,297 mm of vertical reach on the J3 axis, with the serial-link design additionally enabling back-flip operation on this axis. The IP67 wrist and J3 arm are rated for harsh environments.

A FANUC R-30iB Plus Controller powers the robot, which uses internal cables to minimize interference with peripheral devices. The M-1000iA utilizes several common FANUC features like integrated iRVision, force sensing and the Zero Down Time predictive analytics service. Common parts with the M-2000iA robot enable existing customers to keep smaller spare part inventories.