ABB launches 5-axis, high-speed delta robot

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Equipped with a fifth axis, the ABB IRB 365 can reorient an item during the pick-to-place motion. | Credit: ABB

ABB launched the IRB 365 FlexPicker, a 5-axis, high-speed delta robot. The ceiling-mounted robot is designed for high-speed picking applications with a payload under 1.5 kg (4 lb).

With a fifth axis of motion, the IRB 365 FlexPicker can change the orientation of the picked item. This enables more high-speed product handling applications that might not be possible with fewer axes.

The ABB IRB 360 FlexPicker is the four-axis version of this solution. The new IRB 365 FlexPicker extends the FlexPicker family and enables FlexPicker to be used for applications such as kitting, packaging and parcel handling, where either the infeed pick point or the placement location changes the orientation of the item.

In a parcel handling application, parcels or boxes might require reorientation in order to proper position the parcel for barcode or label reading. | Credit: ABB

With the added mass of the fifth axis on the end of the IRB 365, however, the payload mass is reduced from the capabilities of the IRB 360. The IRB 365 can pick, reorient and place 1 kg products 120 times per minute.

The ABB FlexPicker products are now also included in the ABB PickMaster Digital Twin software, which ABB said reduces commissioning times from days to hours and changeover times from hours to minutes.