CNC robots can do many tasks including:

Pick and Place

The robots can move items around your work area.

Machining

CNC robots can perform many of the same duties as CNC machines do.

Welding

Various types of welding such as resistance welding, arc welding, and spot welding can be done by robots.

Sorting

CNC robots can also do the sorting. Sorting is a pick-and-place method that needs additional sensing to identify the type of object.

Painting

Painting and other process tasks that require moving a tool along a path can be done by CNC robots.

SCARA Robots

SCARA or Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm is a 4-axis robot that is used for handling repetitive and high-speed operations. These robots operate more precisely and quickly than human arms do. Additionally, they provide small footprints to support modest payloads.

They assure workers’ safety and their efficiency and promptness help in boosting production and reducing expenses. SCARA robots can be used for:

• Inspections
• Assembly operations
• Packaging
• Pick & place
• Machining

Articulated Robots

Articulated robots are the most common industrial robots. They have rotary joints or also called axes. Other articulated robots have simple 2-axis structures. And some have complicated structures since they have 10 or more axes. These robots have extra degrees of freedom in order to guarantee independent motions.

Due to the increased range of flexibility and motion of articulated robots, they are the best choice for handling a variety of workpieces, no matter the size. They can be used for:

• Arc welding
• Machine loading
• Material handling
• Assembly
• Packaging
• Part transfer

Delta Robots

Delta robots are industrial robots that are parallel-type. They are commonly used in high-speed applications, especially in the manufacturing industry. Their distinctive triangular and upside-down shoes are where they got their name. They are commonly attached to the top of workstations and conveyors where products are carried down.

The mechanical architecture and distinct configuration of delta robots provide them an advantage over other types of robots. Their applications include:

• Pick and place
• Assembly
• Packaging
• Disassembly
• Sorting

Cartesian or Gantry Robots

Cartesian or gantry robots are linear industrial robots that use the X, Y, and Z Cartesian Coordinate systems to move along three axes.

Gantry robots are the common choice due to their configurations that have high flexibility. Their stroke length, precision, speed, and size can be adjusted easily.

Cartesian robots have greater payload and range. They are also larger. Due to that, they are used for handling workpieces that are heavier than normal.

These robots are used for:

• Unloading and loading
• Assembly
• Material handling
• Fastening & screw driving
• Pick & place systems
• Cutting – Waterjet & Laser
• Packaging

Many companies use CNC robots because of their high efficiency and other benefits such as:

Can Do Multiple Tasks

Using CNC robots for multitasking is another excellent benefit that manufacturers make use of. When the CNC machines are drilling, lathing, or milling, the robots can also perform other tasks at the same time. Their tasks can be:

• loading the next machine
• packing the fabricated products
• checking the quality of fabricated products

Smooth Surface Finish

Getting machines to produce the ideal surface roughness is fairly challenging. In contrast, CNC robots offer:

• perfect surface finishes
• create the perfect interactions with workpieces

High Manufacturing Precision

CNC robots have been programmed to guarantee precise positioning at each stage. They are programmed to:

• picking up the workpiece
• loading the workpiece into the CNC machine
• placing the workpiece on the unloading table
• and more

Also, CNC robot arms have a precision of about +/-1 mm during the operation of unloading and loading.

Fast Production Speed

CNC robots are highly consistent and quicker than humans. They can do the following tasks with the same speed for a very long time:

• grab
• load
• unload

Throughout the past, a production process might have been slowed down by the absence of a professional operator. On the other hand, CNC robots have the ability to operate computer programs continuously and efficiently. And that speeds up production and the products will also reach the market more quickly.

Workspace

In terms of workspace, CNC robots typically have a spherical and larger workspace. Typically, a CNC machine’s workspace is described as a tiny cube.

Usually, the working envelopes for medium-sized industrial robots can be up to 7 cubic meters.

CNC robots make it simple to add an extra axis to expand their workspaces.

Accuracy

Typically, CNC machines have more machining accuracy or precision than robots. Robots have an accuracy of about 0.1 to 0.2 mm. And high-end CNC machines have an accuracy range of 0.02 mm to 0.05 mm. The precision of Swiss lathe machines is +/-0.0002 mm. The robotics industry mainly focused on repeatability because robot accuracy usually depends on calibration.

Affordability

Both CNC machines and robots can be pricey.

In comparison, CNC robots have some advantages over typical machine tools such as their spacious workspace and versatility. They can also perform a number of operations on objects with different complexity, sizes, and shapes. Due to that, they have less cost and more value.

Rigidity

Compared to CNC machines tools, CNC robots typically have lower rigidity.

Machine tools’ rigidity usually affects how accurate they are. When cutting through hard materials, tools with low rigidity have a tendency to move around and make imprecise cuts.

Softer materials such as wood and plastic are no problem for CNC robots. They can also handle aluminum and steel materials. However, their motors might have backlash.

Stiffness

Commonly, CNC machines have great stiffness in all axes. CNC robots’ stiffness is typically lower and it differs depending on their type. As an example, SCARA robots have incredible stiffness in the Z axis.

Programming

G-Code is used in the programming of CNC machines. Nowadays, rather than being manually coded, it is created most frequently by CAM software.

On the other hand, CNC robots are programmed by the programming language of the manufacturer. However, the programs can be developed by other programming methods such as G-Code using a robot post-processor.

Singularities

An inverse kinematics technique is typically used to determine the position of a robot tool. This could result in singularities or also known as areas of the workspace. Singularities are technically “dead zones” brought by mathematics within the algorithm.

Versatility

The enhanced versatility of CNC robots is their major benefit. Due to their versatility, you can switch them easily from one task to another task. They can also do several tasks at once.

On the other hand, CNC machines can adequately do specific tasks such as turning, drilling, milling, and other jobs. CNC robots can also carry out all of these operations. They can move along a variety of complicated paths.

Usually, CNC machines have 3 or 4° of freedom which is sufficient for several machining operations. And industrial robots have over 6° of freedom. Due to that, almost any shape can be machined by using robots.

CNC robots have many functions including:

• Enhanced robot path performance
• Offline programming options via CAM/CAD systems
• Tool radius compensation on the controller
• CNC-based robot programming

Using CNC robots lower the risk of employee injury. They can make their job safer by automating the repetitive and strenuous duties of unloading and loading operations. Therefore, the workers will not do these duties manually and will rather focus on duties with higher value. Because of that, you don’t have to hire manual workers and it will decrease turnover.

Due to the user interface, the robots can be configured to do machining tasks like machine tools do using the G-code (DIN 66025). The users can make programs using a CAM/CAD process chain. And they can be executed on the robot after simulation without compiling them first into the robot language. They are included with:

• sister tools
• tool radius correction
• other familiar CNC functions

Machine operators with prior expertise in using CNC machine tools can begin controlling the CNC robots simply and quickly thanks to the user interface. The user interface includes the CNC controller’s standard operator control elements.

Now that there is a CNC control, even big programs with several program blocks can be processed. The programs that have about 1 million path points have been processed successfully. Also, the continuous-path performance and path accuracy of CNC robots are significantly enhanced by the close spacing between the advance path planning that have a range of 150 path points and the individual path points of CNC.