SWIFTI™ High-Speed Collaborative Robot

ABB has enhanced its collaborative robot family with a new industrial cobot which combines enhanced collaborative safety measures and ease of use with the speed, robustness and precision of an industrial robot.

Offering speeds of five meters per second, SWIFTI is a fast and accurate collaborative industrial robot for payloads up to 4kg, designed to bridge the gap between collaborative and industrial robotics.

Designed to support intermittent collaboration between human and robot, SWIFTI can move at high speed for maximum productivity, without jeopardizing safety when a human worker needs to approach the cobot.

SWIFTI is aimed at tasks including assembly and polishing where human operators need to be present to carry out duties such as supervision and repositioning of parts. Such applications have traditionally used extensive physical safety measures such as fencing to minimize the risk of people coming into contact with robots moving at high speeds, increasing the cost and size of the installation, and disrupting line speed and productivity as the robots have to be stopped so a human can enter the workspace.  

Integrating a safety laser scanner with ABB’s SafeMove Collaborative safety software, SWIFTI ensures that contact between a moving robot and a human will not occur, thus preventing injury. Working together, the technologies allow safe collaboration to be achieved without the need for physical fencing, by ensuring that an operator is not present within the robot’s working envelope while it is moving.

If an operator is detected within SWIFTI’s working area, the cobot’s movements will automatically slow down or stop completely to allow the operator to approach safely. As the worker moves away, the cobot will restart, returning to full speed and movement for full productivity once it senses that its working envelope is completely clear. As an added safeguard, SWIFTI also features an interaction status light that provides a visual indication of the cobot’s status when the operator is in the cobot’s workspace.

Another aspect of SWIFTI’s collaborative design is its ease of use and installation. The robot’s safe working zones can be set using SafeMove’s easy-to-use fast setup tools, including the SafeMove Configurator App on the ABB FlexPendant.

When it comes to programming the robot itself, SWIFTI offers users a choice of both lead-through programming via a clip-on lead through programming device, and ABB’s new Wizard easy programming software. Based on simple graphical blocks, Wizard Easy Programming makes it easy for non-specialists to automate their applications. The blocks represent actions such as ‘move to location’, ‘pick up an object’, and ‘repeat movements’, making it easy and intuitive to build a series of simple processes for the robot to perform. There are also functions for error handling, allowing novice programmers to resolve errors such as collisions.

Removing the need for operators to learn complex programming languages, these features greatly reduce the time, effort and scope for error that have deterred many companies, especially SMEs, from investing in robotic automation.

Every ABB cobot installation includes a start-up package that provides ABB Ability™ condition monitoring & diagnostics as well as a support hotline free for the first six months to access ABB’s expert technical assistance, which is offering support across all industry segments.

Key features CRB 1100

• 4kg payload and 475mm or 580mm reach.
• Fast performance – industrial robot speed of up to 5 meters per second (the exact safe collaborative speed may be lower, as it will depend on the specific application, tooling, payload etc. Users can refer to the SafeMove Configurator App for a recommendation. Users should always carry out a risk assessment of their application).
• Accuracy / position repeatability of 10 microns.
• Small footprint, lightweight manipulator and ability to mount in any direction.
• Powered by OmniCore™ controller and FlexPendant.
• Four integrated air supplies.
• ISO flange for easy mounting of tooling.
• Cobot label and white/gray color scheme to differentiate CRB 1100 and IRB 1100.
• Safety laser scanner and SafeMove Collaborative software (a safety PLC may be required for connection with the laser scanner)
• Interaction status light to communicate cobot status
• SafeMove Configurator App on the ABB FlexPendant.
• Safety certified PL d Cat 3.
• IP40 protection.
• Ease of use: quick calibration and configuration.
• Ease of use: Wizard Easy Programming.
• Ease of use: Clip-on lead-through programming device.