4 ms·

Absolutely! Payload is 1kg at extension, speed is 2 seconds between any two points, accuracy is sub-millimeter. It's got the capabilities of an industrial arm f

Absolutely! Payload is 1kg at extension, speed is 2 seconds between any two points, accuracy is sub-millimeter. It's got the capabilities of an industrial arm for the price of a laptop.

pravda 11y ago
Power requirements? What's in it... steppers, servos? "Guide the arm through a motion, which it replays flawlessly" -- ok, I assume it has servo motors with encoders. The motors are in the base with timing belts extending to the joints? Backlash? Rigidity? What's it made of? I assume it is not carbon fiber. :-)
- rmyers 11y ago
  Hi! Co-founder here... KATIA plugs into a normal wall jack (120/240v single-phase), so you don't need to be wired for 360v three-phase power like you would with other industrial robots. We also don't use any steppers or hobby servos like you would find on a toy arm. When we say the performance of an industrial arm, we mean it. We've built highly integrated, custom permanent magnet synchronous motors with 14-bit absolute rotary position sensors built into each joint. Furthermore, the arm has been designed from the ground up for zero-backlash operation, and the rigidity is insane -- we're gettting less than one hundreth of a millimeter of transient deflection during our worst-case stress testing. And it is made out of carbon fiber, because that's just how we roll.
  - pravda 11y ago
    Well, I am very impressed. 14 bit = 2^14 = 16384. Optical or some kind of hall-effect? I am going to guess hall-effect. When I read "permanent magnet synchronous motor" I think stepper-ish motor. Is that what the joints are? No gearbox, custom stepper-ish motor, with the 14-bit encoder giving feedback not just on the position, but also the load? What voltage do these custom motors run on? I will guess .... 48V. It is a very sleek-looking arm.
    - sbierwagen 11y ago
      the 14-bit encoder giving feedback not just on the position, but also the load? Rotary encoder probably wouldn't give you that. Usually you just measure how much current the motor's drawing.

Absolutely! Payload is 1kg at extension, speed is 2 seconds between any two points, accuracy is sub-millimeter. It's got the capabilities of an industrial arm for the price of a laptop.

pravda 11y ago

Power requirements? What's in it... steppers, servos? "Guide the arm through a motion, which it replays flawlessly" -- ok, I assume it has servo motors with encoders. The motors are in the base with timing belts extending to the joints? Backlash? Rigidity? What's it made of? I assume it is not carbon fiber. :-)

rmyers 11y ago
Hi! Co-founder here... KATIA plugs into a normal wall jack (120/240v single-phase), so you don't need to be wired for 360v three-phase power like you would with other industrial robots. We also don't use any steppers or hobby servos like you would find on a toy arm. When we say the performance of an industrial arm, we mean it. We've built highly integrated, custom permanent magnet synchronous motors with 14-bit absolute rotary position sensors built into each joint. Furthermore, the arm has been designed from the ground up for zero-backlash operation, and the rigidity is insane -- we're gettting less than one hundreth of a millimeter of transient deflection during our worst-case stress testing. And it is made out of carbon fiber, because that's just how we roll.
- pravda 11y ago
  Well, I am very impressed. 14 bit = 2^14 = 16384. Optical or some kind of hall-effect? I am going to guess hall-effect. When I read "permanent magnet synchronous motor" I think stepper-ish motor. Is that what the joints are? No gearbox, custom stepper-ish motor, with the 14-bit encoder giving feedback not just on the position, but also the load? What voltage do these custom motors run on? I will guess .... 48V. It is a very sleek-looking arm.
  - sbierwagen 11y ago
    the 14-bit encoder giving feedback not just on the position, but also the load? Rotary encoder probably wouldn't give you that. Usually you just measure how much current the motor's drawing.