Yaskawa presented its new 30 kg cobots for the first time at the Automatica trade fair in Munich. The high payload makes the new Motoman HC30PL particularly suitable for palletizing applications without safety fences. Yaskawa was already able to implement numerous cobot palletizing applications with the predecessor model HC20DTP. Now the manufacturer is expanding its portfolio with a special cobot palletizer. With a maximum load capacity of 30 kg, it can handle heavy picking tasks in warehouses (palletizing and depalletizing), which are really tiring and unhealthy for employees.

The long reach of the robot reaches every point of the pallet and allows a stacking height of 2 m on a standard Euro pallet. A safety fence is not required thanks to the safe operation, so the robot can be easily integrated into existing environments in a space-saving manner, despite the presence of people and forklift traffic. By using an additional floor scanner that detects the distance between man and robot, the working speed can be adapted to the situation and the robot can reach its full speed of up to 2 m/s - to the benefit of the cycle time.

Simple programming on the Smart Pendant

Yaskawa also simplifies programming with the modern "Smart Pendant" operating unit. The newly developed Smart Pattern Wizard software guides the operator through the individual steps for creating different palletizing patterns. Using just a few reference points and pattern information, the wizard creates the robot program, which can then be conveniently edited in the wizard.

If you prefer to use traditional programming and professional tools, you can also use the Teach Pendant and the comprehensive PalletSolver software.

Thanks to its standard connection flange, which is common in the cobot world, and its media cables (inputs and outputs, Ethernet and two air lines) routed in the arm, equipping the robot with grippers and accessories is easy. Components from all leading suppliers are available for the HC30PL.

The prerequisite for this is Yaskawa's "ECOSYSTEM" partner product program introduced in 2022: an online network of various peripheral products and complete systems, especially for cobot palletizing. In addition to numerous partner products, the Yaskawa Robotics Ecosystem also includes Yaskawa products such as drives, linear axes and software packages. The main focus is on plug & play solutions that are available as a package with complete mechanical, electrical and software integration and can be integrated immediately. There are currently over 110 products to choose from.