Dobot launches CRA cobot arm series

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Dobot Robotics, a manufacturer of collaborative robot arms, opened its U.S. office in Dallas, marking a major milestone in its global expansion strategy. The company is also launching the new CRA series of collaborative robot arms (cobots) and the associated VX500 Smart Camera in the U.S. market. The cross-sector products expand its range of cobots for companies in dozens of industries, including electronics, automotive, metal processing, and so on.

“The Dallas office functions as the headquarters for Dobot’s North American operations, encompassing a showroom, training center, logistics hub, and service center. Leveraging our U.S. subsidiary, we are committed to enhancing support for our local partners and customers, delivering top-notch products and services, and continually strengthening our presence in North America,” Alla Huang, General Manager of Dobot USA, said.

Inside the CRA cobot series

The new CRA series is made up of seven models with a minimum payload of 3 kilograms (around 6.6 lbs) to a maximum payload of 20 kilograms (around 44 lbs) and a working radius of 620 to 1,700 millimeters (around 24.4 to 66.9 in). They are used in high-precision industrial applications such as pick-and-place, sorting, screwing, inspection, gluing, welding, transporting, polishing, and palletizing.

Compared to the previous model, the CRA cobots offer a more powerful gearbox that shortens a work cycle by an average of 25%. The control boxes of the devices are also about 25% smaller, are optionally protected according to the IP54 protection class in challenging environments and extensive maintenance is thus reduced in the long term.

CRA Series

Electromagnetic brakes stop the gripper arms from descending within 18 milliseconds, protecting workers in the immediate vicinity even during power outages. In addition, the models with payloads of 3, 5, and 10 kilograms (around 6.6, 11, and 22 lbs) are compatible with Dobot’s self-developed SafeSkin technology. This detects obstacles within a radius of 15 centimeters (around 5.9 inches) and avoids collisions.

The CRA series supports Modbus, Ethernet/IP and Profinet communication and connects with PLC and other automation systems. With 24 available I/O ports and PNP/NPN switching, expansions can be carried out more easily. New operating software supports graphical programming, scripting and drag-to-teach for trajectory replay.

The new VX500 Smart Camera uses Dobot’s proprietary 2.5D spatial compensation technology, which enables robots equipped with it to detect tilted or angled objects. This enables a variety of vision-based automation scenarios for cobots of the new CRA series as well as the existing CR series. Users can set up the new camera quickly and easily via Dobot’s latest software.

VX500 Smart Camera