Frequently Asked Questions

The key features that mark a robot as collaborative are:

• Power and force limiting capability that allows for safe human interaction
• Easy to use, easy to teach, easy to redeploy
• Program by hand guiding
• Frequent adjustment, interaction and redeployment as compared to standard industrial robot applications

Cobots can be implemented for most applications that meet the payload and reach specifications of the robot. In particular, machine tending, parts handling and assembly are great environments. In addition, cobots can easily work in environments that have space restrictions or where it must coexist with human workers. Some cobot models are best-suited for environments that require ease of transition from one station to another in an efficient manner. Many companies find that dirty, repetitive and boring tasks are ideal for cobots, freeing workers to be utilized on other jobs where they can be more productive.

It is always recommended that a risk assessment be performed since there are many things that affect the safety of the system, not just the robot arm. The environment, the gripper and the item being carried by the gripper all affect the safety of the system. A safe robot does not equal a safe system. While the robot arm may be safe (collaborative), the true safety depends on the entire robot system. The integrator is responsible for completing the initial risk assessment; the end user should participate in the initial risk assessment process and is responsible for maintaining the information and making future changes.

• Are there extreme temperatures capable of causing injury to the operator if contact is made?
• If the part becomes dislodged from the end of arm tooling, could the impact injure the operator?
• If clamping forces on the end-of-arm tooling or fixtures can cause an injury, can the force be reduced?
• Can exposure to sharp edges cause cuts and abrasions?
• Can personal protective equipment affect how the operator works?
• Is the transition between the collaborative and non-collaborative workspaces defined, understood by the operators and controlled?

The YRC1000 controller does not currently support single phase 110V/120V or 220V, but will be in a future version.

Yes, an enhanced Functional Safety Unit (FSU) provides control-reliable zone and tool position monitoring, standstill monitoring and speed limiting. This can reduce costs for safeguarding hardware, while providing new capabilities such as collaborative tasks. The FSU can define multiple zones and monitor if the robot is inside or outside the zone. A graphic utility on the robot teach pendant aids in the setup of robot, tool and work zones. User-defined zones are displayed on the visual read out and are colored by work zone and type.

At the time of release, the HC10 will meet or exceed the following safety standards/certifications:

ISO 10218-1, ISO 13849-1 PLd Cat 3

The HC10 is currently only supported on the new YRC1000 controller.

The HC10 incorporates proprietary dual torque sensors in each joint.  These enable the robot arm to sense pressure when it comes into contact with a human (or any other object) and stop accordingly.  To learn more about the power and force limiting (PFL) technologies used in the HC10, please visit the Resources Page.

The HC10 can be taught (programmed) one of two ways:

#1. Through its easy teaching mode (Easy Teach), the arm can easily be maneuvered to teach the required path and waypoints. The mode is called lead-through-jogging or hand guiding.

#2. The HC10 can also be programmed via the traditional method by jogging it using the teach pendant. This is a full-featured pendant design that is based upon many years of experience and customer feedback.

Yaskawa is working with several third-party vendors to certify their tooling a gripper components are compatible with our Smart Series line of robots. This provides the user with a wide variety of choices and the freedom to pick the tools that best meet the application needs.

The YRC1000 controller supports all popular industrial networks with safety, including Ethernet/IP, Profinet, Modbus and DeviceNet. In addition, it has expandable I/O and integration with industrial HMIs.

Smart Series robots are designed to operate from fixed mounting positions, the exception being the HC-Series.

We characterize the HC robots as "movable", not necessarily "mobile;" it can be moved from work area to work area if needed, but it is not intended as a mobile solution where it is constantly being switched between workstations.

Yes, all Smart Series robots can be floor-, wall-, ceiling- and tilt-mounted.

The GP-Series robots are supported in Motosim^® EG-VRC. The HC10 will be supported in a future release of Motosim^®.