Pocketdelta robot


The PocketDelta Robot is a microrobot based on a parallel structure called "Delta robot". It has been designed to perform micro-assembly tasks where high-speed and high-precision are needed in a reduced working space. The robot's size is 120×120×200 mm offering a workspace diameter up to 150mm × 30mm.

Design

Prerequisites to high-speed and high-precision are a light, but stiff mechanical structure. Thus stiff and lightweight materials build up the moving part of the robot, whereas the heavy motors are attached to the supporting frame. The motors are attached directly to the robot arm, eliminating backlash, friction and elasticity.
A high-level of integration reduces the size of the whole system. The mechanics, motion drives, control electronics and computing are all integrated into one compact unit. This innovative configuration simplifies its use and increases the flexibility of the robot.
The controller is based on PC architecture with interface boards for communication with the robot hardware. The realtime software enables the generation of trajectories in the Cartesian space using a direct and inverse kinematics model of the robot.
The robot integrates a web server which enables an easy communication through an Ethernet network using HTTP, TCP or UDP protocol.

History

  • 2004: The first prototype is developed at the of the as a part of a new project on "Microfactory"'s topic launched by the in collaboration with the EPFL
  • 2005: develops a new version of the robot and introduces it as the
  • March 2007: win the and are nominated for the
  • 2007: The company was founded as a spin-off company from CSEM. The company developed the current version of the PocketDelta robot together with its sister company and has been commercializing the robot as a tool for highly precise micro-mechanical manipulation as well as flexible part feeding systems.

Applications

Typical application's domains for the PocketDelta robot are the following: