Lightweight Carbon Fiber Arms for Industrial and Collaborative Robots

LIGHTWEIGHT CARBON FIBER ARM FOR INDUSTRY PALLETIZING ROBOTS

The weight of the arm is a key factor that impacts a robot's operating speed, the arm's range of motion under load, the longevity of the robot arm's bearings, and the arm's load capacity. The rule is simple: the heavier the arm, the worse the performance. Therefore, finding ultra-light materials with high rigidity is crucial.
Arms or grippers/suction cups are often made from aluminum, which is three times lighter than steel and can be relatively easily machined using CNC processes, particularly for soft metals. However, materials that are even lighter and stiffer than aluminum, such as carbon fiber, are now available.
Carbon fiber is approximately 43% lighter than aluminum while offering exceptional stiffness. It’s important to note that the stiffness of carbon fiber components depends on the type of material used.
 
Lightweight arm made from carbon fiber is 43% lighter than aluminum one

Carbon fiber composites manufactured using prepreg technology and 0/90 woven standard fabrics achieve a stiffness of 90 GPa (Young’s modulus), compared to aluminum's stiffness of 69 GPa.
Standard carbon fiber composites are approximately 35% stiffer than aluminum while being 43% lighter.
Aerospace-grade, high-modulus unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber parts can be 4 times stiffer than aluminum. Although these fabrics are several times more expensive than standard carbon fibers, they demonstrate significant potential for reducing weight and enhancing stiffness.

---

HOW IS CARBON FIBER USED FOR INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS ARMS?

Carbon fiber is increasingly being used in industrial robot arms due to its unique combination of light weight, high strength, and stiffness. Here's how it is applied:

CFRP lightweight arm for palettizing cobots / robots. Carbon fiber arms manufacturer – WISE CARBON FIBER.

1. Structural Components:

• Arm Links and Joints: Carbon fiber is used to manufacture the arm links and joints of industrial robots. These components need to be both strong and lightweight to ensure high performance and efficiency. Carbon fiber's low density reduces the overall weight of the robot arm, which enhances speed and reduces energy consumption.
• End Effectors: The grippers, claws, or other end effectors that interact with objects are often made from carbon fiber. This reduces the load on the robot's motors and bearings, allowing for faster and more precise operations.

2. Enhanced Performance:

• Increased Speed: With reduced mass, the motors can move the arms faster, improving the robot's cycle time and productivity.
• Reduced Wear and Tear: Lighter components reduce the strain on the robot’s joints and bearings, leading to longer operational life and less frequent maintenance.

3. Precision and Stability:

• Vibration Damping: Carbon fiber’s high rigidity and excellent vibration damping properties minimize deflections during rapid movements, improving the robot's accuracy and stability.
• Thermal Stability: Carbon fiber’s low thermal expansion ensures that the robot arm maintains its shape and precision even in varying temperatures, which is critical for processes requiring high accuracy.

4. Customizability:

• Tailored Properties: By using different types of carbon fiber weaves and orientations, the material properties can be customized to meet specific requirements, such as maximizing strength in certain directions while minimizing weight.

5. Durability:

• Corrosion Resistance: Unlike metals, carbon fiber does not corrode, making it ideal for harsh industrial environments where exposure to chemicals or moisture is a concern.
• Fatigue Resistance: Carbon fiber’s resistance to fatigue ensures that the robot arms can operate continuously without degradation in performance.

6. Cost Considerations:

• Initial Investment vs. Long-term Benefits: While carbon fiber components can be more expensive upfront compared to traditional materials like aluminum, the long-term benefits in terms of performance, durability, and reduced maintenance often justify the investment in high-performance applications.

Carbon fiber is used in industrial robot arms to create lightweight, strong, and durable components that enhance the robot’s performance, precision, and longevity.

---

TYPES OF CARBON FIBER ROBOTIC ARMS

Carbon fiber robotic arms come in various types based on their design, application areas, and functional requirements. Here are some common types:
1. Six-Axis Robot Arm

• Application: Typically used in industrial automation for tasks such as welding, painting, assembly, and packaging.
• Features: With six degrees of freedom (6 DOF), it can move flexibly in three-dimensional space to perform complex tasks. The carbon fiber construction reduces the arm's weight, improving speed and precision.

2. Collaborative Robot Arm (Cobot)

• Application: Designed for safe collaboration with humans, widely used in manufacturing, assembly lines, and healthcare.
• Features: The lightweight nature of carbon fiber reduces energy consumption and enhances the safety of the robotic arm, making it suitable for environments requiring human-robot collaboration.

3. High-Speed Pick-and-Place Robot Arm

• Application: Used in high-speed, high-precision tasks such as picking and placing electronic components, and food packaging.
• Features: The high rigidity and vibration-damping properties of carbon fiber allow for stable and precise operation at high speeds, ideal for high-frequency tasks.

4. Vacuum Gripper Robot Arm

• Application: Typically used for handling, palletizing, and other material handling tasks.
• Features: Equipped with suction cups or grippers, the lightweight and high-strength properties of carbon fiber enable it to handle heavy objects without compromising operational flexibility, making it suitable for heavy lifting and packaging.

5. Medical Robot Arm

• Application: Mainly used in surgical procedures, rehabilitation, and laboratory automation.
• Features: The precision and biocompatibility of carbon fiber make it ideal for medical environments, especially in surgical robots that require high accuracy.

6. Modular Robot Arm

• Application: Used in education and research, allowing users to configure and reconfigure the robotic arm as needed.
• Features: The lightweight nature of carbon fiber makes these modular components easy to install and move while maintaining good mechanical performance, suitable for applications requiring flexible configurations.

7. Aerospace Robotic Arm

• Application: Used for operations on satellites, space stations, and other aerospace vehicles.
• Features: The high strength and lightweight characteristics of carbon fiber are particularly important in space environments, helping to reduce the overall weight of the spacecraft and enhance operational capabilities in harsh conditions.

These types of carbon fiber robotic arms, tailored to different application scenarios, demonstrate the extensive use and superior performance of carbon fiber materials in industrial, medical, and aerospace fields.
Carbon fiber sheets are most often used for lightweight grippers / pneumatic suction plates manufacturing.

Grippers and suction plates are available in carbon fiber with thicknesses ranging from 4 mm to 60 mm, including options at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, 20, and 30 mm.
Upon request, we can also provide custom gripper thicknesses from 1 mm to 60 mm with a precision of 0.1 mm, such as 5.1 mm.
With over 12 years of experience in supplying arms/grippers for robots and industrial machinery, we also offer services for threading and screw head slotting on carbon fiber grippers and suction plates.