Drive technology for robotics

16 November 2022

Drive technology that meets the requirements for robots and AMRs is very popular. The Bonfiglioli Group, which operates worldwide, has a wealth of know-how, experience and comprehensive manufacturing options for customer and machine-specific solutions, serving the industry with competitive gearboxes and gearmotors.

The diverse product examples supplied to robotics by Bonfiglioli range from individual components such as shafts and gear wheels, complete low-backlash gearboxes for axes 1-3 of buckling arm robots to compact electromechanical drive solutions for AMRs.

Robotic motion is all about speed and accuracy, and depending on the size or weight of the tool or workpiece, power. The base, the carousel as the first axis, rotates the entire robot around its own axis, the so-called swing arm is tilted by a second axis and the third axis tilts the arm. Bonfiglioli serves these three axes with robot-specific solutions, i.e. gear units specially designed for each robot series and size, which are developed and implemented in close cooperation with the customer. The best example of this is the cooperation with ABB Robotics. In addition, many other components for transmitting torque, i.e. shafts and gears, are also supplied, which are developed to meet the requirements of the specific application as well.

For driving autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and AGVs, a sophisticated modular system consisting of gearboxes or geared motors including a drive wheel is available, which can be perfectly tailored to all customer needs. The platform called BlueRoll, the heart of which is the TQW wheel drive series, consists of three versions: In the basic version, the customer is completely free in terms of the motor. With the advanced or with the compact versions, Bonfiglioli also supplies the motor fully assembled and ready for installation. In-house brushless AC motors with voltages starting from 12 volts including the cabling are available for this purpose. A single unit of the three available sizes of BlueRoll devices can be loaded with up to 360, 720 or 1,020 kilograms and reaches speeds of up to two meters per second. In addition, Bonfiglioli always has the option of adapting the system components to very specific customer requirements.