In recent years, industrial robots have experienced explosive growth, especially due to rising labor costs, which have led manufacturing companies to increasingly favor more mechanized, efficient, and lower-cost robots. When discussing industrial robots, one crucial component must be mentioned: the speed reducer. Because industrial robots operate in different environments and have varying performance requirements, different types of speed reducers are used.
As is well known, with rising labor costs and technological advancements, the application of industrial robots is increasing. There are many types of industrial robots, such as articulated robots, planar articulated robots, coordinate robots, and cylindrical coordinate robots. Among these, articulated robots are the most widely used. Articulated robots are primarily driven by joint motors, and considering the driving torque, a reduction mechanism is generally required.
The role of key reducers in industrial robots
The operation of industrial robots is mainly controlled by three components: servo motors, reducers, and controllers. Among them, reducers are used to precisely control the movement of robot joints and transmit greater torque. Currently, common reducers are mainly divided into two types: RV reducers installed in heavy-load positions such as the upper arm and shoulder of industrial robots, and harmonic reducers installed in light-load positions such as the forearm, wrist, and hand.
An industrial robot joint reducer is a device used to reduce backlash and improve the accuracy of industrial robot systems. It achieves this by reducing the rotational backlash between gears. This improves accuracy when moving parts and reduces errors during motion. The importance of installing reducers at the joints of industrial robots lies in their ability to improve the overall accuracy of the industrial robot system.
Industrial robot joint reducers can also provide the transmission of greater torque. When the joint load of an industrial robot is large, simply increasing the power of the servo motor is not cost-effective. The output can be increased within an appropriate speed range by using a reducer. In addition, servo motors are prone to overheating and low-frequency vibration when operating at low frequencies, which is not conducive to ensuring the accurate and reliable operation of industrial robots that work for long periods of time and in a cyclical manner.
Types of joint reducers for industrial robots
In articulated robots, the two most common types of reducers are RV reducers and harmonic reducers. For industrial robots with smaller loads or large, multi-axis end effectors, harmonic reducers are a type of harmonic drive device. A harmonic reducer consists of several key components: a rigid wheel, a flexible wheel, bearings, and a wave generator. The rigid wheel has slightly more teeth than the flexible wheel. Harmonic reducers used in small robots are characterized by their small size, light weight, high load capacity, high motion accuracy, and large single-stage transmission ratio.
RV reducers possess advantages such as small size, strong impact resistance, high torque, high positioning accuracy, low vibration, and large reduction ratio. Therefore, they are mainly used in industrial robots, machine tools, and medical fields. Furthermore, they are also suitable for applications such as detection equipment and satellite receiving systems.
RV reducers are suitable for medium and heavy-duty applications due to their high impact resistance and precision. However, RV reducers need to transmit large torques, withstand large overload impacts, and ensure their expected service life. Their design incorporates a relatively complex over-alignment structure, making manufacturing processes and cost control challenging. RV reducers have no elastic deformation components within their internal components, thus allowing them to withstand a certain amount of torque. The bearings of RV reducers are their weak point, easily exceeding their bearing force limits, leading to abnormal bearing wear or breakage. This problem is particularly pronounced during high-speed operation, so the rated torque of RV reducers decreases significantly with increasing input speed.
This article mainly introduces the functions and types of joint reducers for industrial robots. Through the article, readers can understand that an industrial robot joint reducer is a device used to reduce backlash and improve the accuracy of industrial robot systems. It achieves this by reducing the rotational backlash between gears. This improves accuracy when moving parts and reduces errors during motion.
