TAL’s Brabo industrial articulated robot is Euro compliant.
Story by:
Ashish Bhatia
TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd., showcased an industrial articulated robot Brabo at the ‘Make in India’ week in February 2016. In less than two years the company has launched the robot with Euro compliance, and a CE certification. Available in a two kilogram, and a 10 kg payload variant, the robot is priced in the range of Rupees five-to six-lakh. Built in partnership with an Italian firm, RTA Motion Control Systems, the robot aims at micro, small and medium scale enterprises. Large manufacturers looking for cost competitive automated solutions could also look at the Brabo to address their needs. Having tested the TAL Brabo successfully, the acquisition of CE certification marks a big step ahead, expressed R.S Thakur, Non-Executive Director and Chairman at TAL Manufacturing Solutions. “With ‘European Confirmity’, the Brabo robot can now be exported to European markets besides others,” he mentioned. TAL Manufacturing is also developing the all-important IP certification for the Brabo. This will ensure a degree of protection against the entry of foreign objects, especially water.
Expected to find application in the auto industry, which is constantly on the lookout for attaining a higher degree of automation and localisation, the Brabo, according to R.S Thakur, will revolutionise industrial manufacturing in India. Addressing the need for smaller and more portable robots in the auto industry, especially at the suppliers, the Brabo, said Thakur, marks an important development for his company. “With TAL Brabo, we have taken a quantum leap in revolutionising industrial manufacturing in India,” he averred. Touching upon RTA Motion Control Systems providing critical components like motors and drives, Thakur expressed, “The collaboration has not only helped to indigenise the Brabo, it has also helped us to come out with new variants.” Planning to launch new variants of the Brabo robot to cater to the needs of diverse industries, especially in the automotive field, the company designed and styled the robot in-house. Also involved in the process was another Tata Group company, Tata Elxsi, according to Thakur. Tata AutoComponents is also known to manufacture some of the most critical components of the robot. Claimed to have been tested in 50 customer work-streams already, TAL Manufacturing is looking to supply these robots to the logistics sector as well. The company is also looking at supplying the Brabo to various other industrial streams to improve quality and productivity.
Promising to elevate productivity by 15 per cent to 30 per cent on a cast-to-case basis, the Brabo was primarily conceptualised to complement human workforce rather than to replace them. Said R.S. Thakur, “The robot will complement the human workforce and assist them in dull, dirty and dangerous tasks.” Suitable to carry out tasks that are repetitive in nature, of high volumes, and are dangerous and time consuming, the Brabo, according to Amit Bhingurde, Chief Operations Officer at TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd., can be used to increase efficiency spanning raw material handling to packaging of finished goods. Capable of being programmed to operate round the clock, and in all situations, the robot facilitates continuous production, and high degree of flexibility. The robot can also help to perform complex functions in a cost effective manner. Designed for diverse applications including pick and place, assembly of parts, machine and press tending, as a sealant applicator apart from finding utility in camera and vision based jobs, the Brabo extends beyond capabilities of Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) robots that are still prevalent in the automotive industry.
The Brabo is a five-axis robot that can operate at different speeds. With varied degree of axis, the robot, capable of operating in a temperature range of zero degree to 50 degree centigrade, has a maximum reach of 600 mm as far as the 10 kg variant is concerned. The two-kg variant’s arm has a reach of 750 mm. Looking at doubling the specifications, the Brabo, on the controller side, has 16 (programmable) digitally controlled inputs and outputs. The robot requires a 230 Volt AC, single phase standard supply to operate.
Complying with European health, safety and environmental legislation, TAL Manufacturing is keen to export the Brabo to Europe to penetrate the highly evolved European market. This would helped the company to up its ante. The company is also developing IP certification to represent a degree of protection against foreign objects like water that could enter the machine and cause damage. This, according to Bhingurde, will widen the scope of Brabo’s application. A six-axis variant of the Brabo will be launched in September 2017, according to Bhingurde. He drew attention to the Brabo’s price advantage. The robot is 30 to 40 per cent cost competitive over the competition. Promising savings on life-cycle costs when compared with imported machines, buyers of Brabo stand to benefit from a 15 to 18 month payback period in monthly EMIs. The current list of Brabo customers include Mahindra and Mahindra, CPG Industries and Tata Motors.
