A six-axis robot is an automation device for heavy repetitive manufacturing work. Six-axis articulated robots are responsible for tasks that are very difficult, dangerous, or boring for humans. So what do you know about six-axis robots?
The most common mechanical structure design for six-axis robots is through the use of six servo motors that drive the rotation of six joint axes via harmonic reducers and synchronous pulleys. Motors driving joints 1 to 4 are hollow in structure. The drive motors for six-axis robots typically use the hollow shaft structure, which is less common.
The wrist joint design for six-axis robots is quite complex, as it integrates three movements simultaneously. Small six-axis robots primarily use harmonic reducers for their wrist joints. Conventional six-axis robots for the wrist part of the structure typically use two harmonic reducers and two synchronous toothed belt transmissions as inputs.
For the mechanical structure design of industrial robots, one of the challenges is the layout of pipelines. It is worth considering how to reasonably arrange various pipelines (including the six motors' drive cables, encoder cables, brake cables, air pipes, electromagnetic valve control wires, sensor wires, etc.) in narrow spaces within the robot arm so that they are not affected by the rotation of the joint axes.
In the design, the various control pipelines for six-axis robots can be directly routed through the center of the motor. Regardless of how the joint axis rotates, the pipe will not rotate with it. Even if the pipe rotates, its rotational radius is small because the pipe is arranged on the rotation axis. This design solves the problem of pipeline arrangement for industrial robots.