4 ms·

That's a Mitsubishi RV4FR or RV7FR series arm[1]. It's a full on industrial arm, not an in-house solution. Industrial arms are some of the most well engineere

That's a Mitsubishi RV4FR or RV7FR series arm[1]. It's a full on industrial arm, not an in-house solution. Industrial arms are some of the most well engineered devices on the planet; they are expected to last decades of nonstop, maintenance-free operation in factory conditions. They're supposed to go hundreds of thousands of hours without performance problems, while holding .005" precision (for this robot, +/- .0008"). This arm costs as much as a nice car because it has the absolute best components that can be built. If it's the M class version then it's rated to IP67[2], and it can do all of the above while underwater or in a sandstorm. [1]: https://us.mitsubishielectric.com/fa/en/products/industrial-robots-melfa/vertical-type-robot/rv-fr-series/rv-fr-series https://us.mitsubishielectric.com/fa/en/products/industrial-... [2]: http://www.dsmt.com/resources/ip-rating-chart/ http://www.dsmt.com/resources/ip-rating-chart/

magduf 8y ago
This seems like a classic case of massive overkill. The cheap solution would be to not have the arm at all, and just put the $200 coffee machine out for customers to operate themselves. It's not hard to put a cup in something and press a button.
bArray 8y ago
RV4FR and RV7FR are IP40 in the manual? That would mean that it's not protected against dust and has zero protection from water. In a controlled environment this is perfectly fine, where dust and moisture can be controlled - but we're talking about moisture from steam coming off of the coffee, the possibility of coffee spillage on the machine, organic dust from nearby humans, non-clean power supplies and loads which may fall outside of usage rating (i.e. obstacles or heavy loads or continued use close to its maximum). Honestly I would be surprised if it's still working in a year in these kinds of conditions. Another issue with smart motors that generally isn't discussed is that they wear out (can only handle lower loads) and lose accuracy. I've used magnetic encoded smart motors for a few projects and after two years you can't rely on them anymore - and this is easy work for the servos (occasional usage).

magduf 8y ago

This seems like a classic case of massive overkill. The cheap solution would be to not have the arm at all, and just put the $200 coffee machine out for customers to operate themselves. It's not hard to put a cup in something and press a button.

bArray 8y ago

RV4FR and RV7FR are IP40 in the manual? That would mean that it's not protected against dust and has zero protection from water. In a controlled environment this is perfectly fine, where dust and moisture can be controlled - but we're talking about moisture from steam coming off of the coffee, the possibility of coffee spillage on the machine, organic dust from nearby humans, non-clean power supplies and loads which may fall outside of usage rating (i.e. obstacles or heavy loads or continued use close to its maximum). Honestly I would be surprised if it's still working in a year in these kinds of conditions. Another issue with smart motors that generally isn't discussed is that they wear out (can only handle lower loads) and lose accuracy. I've used magnetic encoded smart motors for a few projects and after two years you can't rely on them anymore - and this is easy work for the servos (occasional usage).