Throughout your daily activities in the lab, having assembly equipment and  lab automation robots to help you with the heavy lifting pays dividends. Having a flexible robotic arm to assist you in the laboratory improves the productivity and timing of lab automation projects.

This robotic arm is used in various study fields, including exploration, e-health, and the reliability testing of manufactured products like smartphone screens. Labs and research and development (R&D) units rely on these robotic arms considerably to help them carry out essential tasks.

When choosing a robotic plate mover to aid you during your next project or task, these are the key elements to look for, so you get the most functional equipment at your disposal when you need it most.

Looking At The Degrees Of Freedom (DoF)

Robotic plate movers are assembly equipment that work best when they have optimal degrees of freedom (DoF). This is the specific number of axes a rigid body moves freely within a 3D space.

Robotic plate movers with six or seven DoF are particularly ideal, reaching any given point in that space, regardless of the orientation. A six DoF robotic plate mover, integrated with automation scheduling software can open a drawer and retrieve a plate in a nest and then close the door A seven DoF flexible robotic arm operates much like the human arm, replicating human arm motion, reaching inaccessible spots, and possessing more agility.

With more DoF, the robotic plate arm has more reach, meaning that the distance from the robot’s center to the fullest extension of the flexible robotic arm is long enough

Examine The Strength

After analyzing the DoF, it’s time to examine the reach and strength of the robotic plate mover. The strength includes the maximum payload, meaning how many heavy items it can carry at one time. For this type of flexible robotic arm/assembly equipment to work best, it needs to be able to move heavy objects with ease while also applying maximum force to an object. An optimally functioned robotic plate mover will have optimal strength. However, it’s important to point out that the higher the maximum payload is, the more inaccurate the plate mover will be.

Most laboratory processes do not require a great deal of arm payload to move plates from instrument nest to instrument nest. It’s best to acquire a robotic arm that meets or exceeds your minimum payload requirements.

Ever thought about assembly equipment? In the assembly process, lab automation equipment plays a major role. Assembly equipment includes robots, machine tools, and many other assembly tools used to assemble products in manufacturing processes across various industries. Any assembly work that is done by hand can potentially be automated.

When To Use Assembly Equipment

Assembly equipment is used to automate repetitive assembly tasks, freeing up employees for higher-level assembly tasks, increasing quality, and efficiency. Automated assembly equipment is widely implemented in automotive manufacturing, aerospace, consumer electronics assembly, and computer products assembly, among other related industries. It’s probably safe to say that most assembly automation equipment has been designed to increase assembly productivity and accuracy and improve ergonomics and worker safety for those who would otherwise perform manual assembly tasks.

Automation equipment can also include other types of equipment such as machine tools used to create precision parts or machine tools that are capable of cutting or creating holes in metal, wood, or plastic materials such as water jet or laser cutting machines.

Any assembly automation equipment would also likely include robotics and other assembly automation control system components such as sensors, actuators, controllers, and vision systems used in assembly automation equipment.

Automation Instead Of Manual Assembly

Assembly automation equipment is designed to perform tasks that would otherwise be performed by assembly workers performing assembly operations by hand or using hand tools such as welders, drills, and nippers. Assembly workers performing manual assembly tasks are exposed to ergonomic hazards that can lead to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). One of the greatest advantages of assembly automation equipment is its ability to reduce ergonomic risks for assembly employees while increasing productivity at the same time.

Assembly equipment and automation software are the optimal solutions for increasing the efficiency and productivity of laboratory operations.