Kawasaki Robotics Announces New Cobot Line and Use of Off-the-Shelf Tools

End-of-arm tooling (EOAT) for robots has come a long way over the past decade. Prior to the advances made recently, changing EOATs was often difficult, time consuming and offered limited choices. Today, however, EOAT changeovers are relatively quick and easy (plug-and-play options even exist) and the number of choices that span a range of applications has exploded. Even so, these EOATs tend to be highly specialized by the robot manufacturer and its partner ecosystem.

Through a partnership with AMT Precision Parts, however, Kawasaki Robotics now enables use of off-the-shelf tools for applications such as polishing, routing, drilling, grinding and deburring. 

In Kawasaki Robotics’ exhibit at Automate 2024, a multi-use, compact fabrication cell from AMT was featured. In this demonstration, the cell used a Kawasaki RS007L robot, though AMT can configure the cell using any robot from Kawasaki—up to its1500 kilogram payload robots.  

Referencing the cell’s ability to use off-the-shelf tools with its EOAT, Zachary Thoma, regional sales manager with Kawasaki Robotics, said, “By using tools that you can get right off the shelf, maintenance workers love this kind of thing. And let’s face it, those are the guys that make the shop run.”