1. Pneumatic drive system
Pneumatic drive systems typically consist of cylinders, valves, air tanks, and air compressors (or are directly supplied by an air pressure station), using compressed air to drive the actuators. Their advantages include convenient air supply, rapid operation, simple structure, low cost, easy maintenance, fire and explosion protection, and no environmental impact from air leakage. Disadvantages include low operating force, large size, and due to the high compressibility of air, difficulty in speed control, slow response, unstable movement, and impact. Because the origin pressure is generally only around 60 MPa, this type of robot is suitable for applications requiring relatively low gripping force.
2. Hydraulic drive system
Hydraulic drive systems typically consist of hydraulic actuators (various cylinders, hydraulic motors), servo valves, oil systems, and oil tanks, using compressed oil to drive the actuators. Their characteristics include high operating force, small size, smooth transmission and sensitive movement, impact and vibration resistance, and good explosion-proof performance. Compared to force-driven systems, hydraulically driven robots have a much greater grasping capacity, up to hundreds of kilograms. However, hydraulic drive systems have higher requirements for sealing, are not suitable for operation in high or low temperature environments, require higher manufacturing precision, and are therefore more expensive.
3. Electric drive system
Electric drive utilizes the force generated by an electric motor to produce torque. It directly or through a reduction gear drives the robot to achieve the desired position, speed, and acceleration. Electric drive offers advantages such as readily available power, no environmental pollution, fast response, large driving force, convenient signal detection, transmission, and processing, the ability to employ various flexible control schemes, high motion accuracy, low cost, and high drive efficiency, making it the most widely used drive method for robots. The drive motors typically use stepper motors, DC servo motors, and AC servo motors. Due to the high speed of the motors, a reduction gear is usually required. However, some mechanisms now use specially designed motors that do not require a reduction gear for direct drive, which simplifies the mechanism and improves control accuracy.
4. Other driving methods
Hybrid drive is adopted, such as liquid-gas or electric-gas hybrid drive.
The drive system of an industrial robot is a device that provides power to the various components of the execution system. It includes two parts: the drive unit and the transmission mechanism, which are usually integrated with the execution mechanism. Drive units typically include electric, hydraulic, and pneumatic devices, as well as integrated systems that combine these. Commonly used transmission mechanisms include harmonic drives, screw drives, chain drives, belt drives, and various gear drives.
