LG Motion expands into collaborative robotics

The Techman cobot range will complement the existing automated motion control solutions being delivered by the company, which utilise other leading global brands, and this move solidifies the company’s position as a leading innovator when it comes to motion control solutions for industry and research and development.

The market for collaborative robots, or cobots, is expected to grow by more than 40% a year, and be worth over £3 billion globally by 2020 and LG Motionis now well placed to develop their market share within the motion control solution space in the UK and Europe.

The cobot range is built by Techman Robot Inc., a subsidiary of Quanta Storage, and offers a diverse choice of robot depending on the application requirements. The TM5 has a reach of 700mm and load capacity of 6kg, with the more industrial TM12 and TM14, offering a load capacity of 14kg and a reach of up to 1300mm. Low voltage versions of the cobot adds to its versatility in mobile applications.

With the ongoing reduction in the cost of implementation, manufacturers can now afford to take a much more flexible approach when it comes to simple, repetitive tasks in their workflow with cobots. The collaborative nature of these robots, including sophisticated safety features, allow for previously manual tasks to be replaced by more consistent automated solutions alongside the workforce, offering a considerable cost saving and increased accuracy.

Gary Livingstone, LG Motion Managing Director, explains: “Collaborative robots offer a much more flexible approach for some of the automated motion control solutions our customers need. After much research, we partnered with HMK, with the Techman cobot for three key reasons.

“Firstly, HMK has the reputation and scale to support our customers across the UK in this relatively new market. Secondly, we found the Techman cobot superior in its space. It’s easy to program and integrate, and as they work in a learning environment, we realised some of our customers could significantly increase their agility for production. Finally, the scale of the organisation behind the Techman product gives us the security that this product will have the ongoing support that our customers demand.”

Despite the simplicity in the way the Techman works, it is packed with a number of features which integrate easily with industry standard hardware and software. The cobots also come loaded with built-in vision for precision positioning, allowing the robotto orientate itself within a 3D space to multiple machine surfaces.

Gary Kitchin, Managing Director of HMK, the UK distributor of the Techman range, is also dedicated to increasing the scope of robots across the UK: “We have known LG Motion for a number of years and their approach to system integration, along with their industry reputation, fits perfectly with our own approach of providing industry leading products with quality levels of service and support.”