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ABB Announces Healthcare and Manufacturing Solutions at CIIF Event

September 20, 2020 by Alessandro Mascellino

Industrial automation giant, ABB, unveiled a new series of solutions for intelligent manufacturing and healthcare recently.

The announcements took place at the China International Industry Fair (CIIF) in Shanghai, a yearly event showcasing global manufacturing technologies.

The new products include the IRB 1300 robot, the Robotics Pharmacy Automation System, and the Auto Industry-leading PixelPaint solution.

 

IRB 1300: A High Lifting Capacity Robot

A six-axis industrial robot, the IRB 1300, is available in three main load/reach versions: 11 kg/0.9 m, 10 kg/1.15 m, and 7 kg/1.4 m. According to ABB, the 11 kg variant would offer the highest payload of any robot in its class.

 

ABB's IRB 1300. Image used courtesy of ABB.

 

The IRB 1300 is also a compact machine, nearly 60 percent lighter and one-sixth the footprint of its predecessor, the IRB 1600. In terms of applications, the IRB 1300 is designed to work for high load applications in electronics, general industry, food & beverage, logistics, and tier 1 automotive production.

The robot arm can perform a wide range of tasks in materials handling, machine tending, polishing, and assembly and testing applications. For more information about the IRB 1300, you can check the robot's data-sheet.

 

The Robotic Pharmacy 

Developed together with Shanghai Seventh People's Hospital, the Robotic Pharmacy is an intralogistics solution for an inpatient pharmacy based on ABB's MiniLoad robot and 3D bin-picking solutions.

Within this environment, the MiniLoad robot system using an IRB 2600 performs medicine storage and retrieval tasks, while an IRB 1200 with 3D vision and AI technology sorts and dispenses medicines following prescriptions. The Robotic Pharmacy also features a dual-arm YuMi collaborative robot capable of operating alongside lab workers on various pipetting, liquid handling, compounding, and microbiological culturing tasks.

 

ABB's YuMi robot. Image courtesy of ABB.
 

A highly modular and expandable project designed to match different installation environments demands that the Robotic Pharmacy is also compatible with ABB's Ability digital platform.

Through the software, customers can manage the pharmacy's many features, including a dedicated medicine storage management system to ensure medicine traceability.

 

ABB Expanding Automation Robotic Capabilities

At the CIIF event, ABB also announced various automotive-focused solutions such as electronics assembly robots, quality inspection tools, and the PixelPaint software.

 

Rendering of a PixelPaint spraying system. Image courtesy of ABB.
 

PixelPaint is a solution using inkjet to eliminate overspray, thus enabling two-tone paint and individual designs to be applied in one pass, without need for masking and demasking.

Following the end of the CIIF, ABB will continue to expand its business in China. The company has already announced new investments in its Robotics Factory of the Future in Shanghai.

The new production and research facility, which will combine state-of-the-art manufacturing, self-learning machines, and digital and collaborative solutions, is scheduled to open in 2021. You can follow this link for more information about all of ABB's CIIF announcements and webinars.

Are you interested in more news from the CIIF event? Check out the official website for live updates, as the event is running from September 15 to 19, and the webinar series between September 28 and October 02, 2020.

 


 

What are your thoughts regarding these new industrial automation solutions?