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Omron’s Newest SCARA Robot Series Boasts a Compact Footprint

May 21, 2021 by Nancy Chenyizhi Liu

Automation solutions provider Omron Automation Americas plans to start selling a new industrial robot series: the i4L, featuring compact design and flexible programming.

Omron's new i4L series are compact SCARA robots for a wide variety of applications including precision machining, assembly, and material handling. In the light-duty SCARA robots market, i4L brings “competitive” performance at an affordable cost.

 

Developing the Concept of “Innovative-Automation”

Founded in 1933, Omron has around 30,000 employees globally in more than 110 countries. Besides creating and selling industrial robots, Omron offers integrated automation solutions for control, safety, vision, sensing and more.

 

Video used courtesy of OMRON

 

Based on its core technology of "Sensing & Control + Think", Omron introduced the manufacturing innovation concept “innovative-automation.” The company commits to bring three key innovations to the manufacturing environment: intelligent, integrated, and interactive. 

Omron plans to develop the automation control technology for inexperienced operators, evolve equipment and production lines by information and communications technology (ICT), and build a new harmonious relationship between human operators and machines.

 

Omron Introduced the Latest SCARA Robot i4L

Taking advantage of affordable automation technology, Omron introduced the new i4L SCARA robot to set a new bar in the light-duty SCARA market by strong performance at a low price. It can reduce setup time with its flexible programming tools and maximize uptime with its interactive status light.


Omron i4L SCARA robot

Omron began to sell the i4L robots. Image used courtesy of OMRON

 

Multiple sizes are available for the i4L robot with the work envelope, reaching 350, 450, and 550 mm. With simple installation and easy-to-use features, the i4L robot can be table-mounted or wall-mounted without additional adapters or brackets. It also offers rear or bottom cable routing, an inside-integrated controller, and standard, built-in connections for communications, I/O, and pneumatics.

 

The i4L Robot Offers “Powerful” Tools to Optimize Efficiency

According to Omron, the i4L robot offers high-speed and high-precision motion with payloads up to 5 kg. As a lighter-duty SCARA robot, it provides “high-end” inertia and repeatability to handle challenging processes of the application.

The robot is equipped with interactive maintenance alarms and an RGB (red, green, blue) dome light to help users diagnose problems quicker and more efficiently. Indicating the robot status, the multi-colored LED light dome is highly visible and customizable.

 

The i4L robots feature an RGB dome light. Image used courtesy of OMRON

 

To optimize efficiency and maximize productivity, the i4L robot supports three different programming methods, including the “automation control environment” software package ACE, single programming software Sysmac and ePLC connect. The users can program the i4L robot along with other Omron safety, motion, I/O, or vision devices.

In addition, it provides the option to be programmed individually via Ethernet or integrated into the Omron NJ EtherCAT network, allowing users to deploy and synchronize multiple robots.

 

The Application of the i4L Robot

The Omron’s i4L robot can be applied to high-volume components and sub-assembly products production, pick-and-place parts, load or unload parts for processing machines, and parts assembly, alignment, and packaging operations, especially in the small form factor robot-required work cells.

 

The interactive maintenance features. Image used courtesy of OMRON

 

It can serve a variety of industries including automotive automation, food and beverage packaging, electronics manufacturing, logistics and warehouse automations, and more.

Due to the increasing labor shortage and pandemic-related social distancing requirements, the demand for affordable material-handling automation solutions is ramping up. The fast-paced manufacturing-related challenges that many companies face lead to increasing interests in robotic solutions.

Since it can work tirelessly and safely with the required speed and flexibility in the fast-paced manufacturing environments, the i4L SCARA robot can help companies solve the issues above, according to the Present and CEO of Omron Robotics and Safety Technologies Tom Mathias.