OB7 series Productive Robotics Review

What is the story behind Productive Robotics’ cobots?

Productive Robotics is a young and innovative robotics company founded in 2010. It was spun off from ZBE, a company that designed the visual and dynamic effects in famous movies and series thanks to robotic camera systems.

Building on their expertise in smart and motion vision, they launched their OB7 line in 2017, which features a wide reach and outstanding user experience. Productive Robotics is especially banking on a code-free interface to appeal to companies looking for fast and accessible automation.

They want to set a new standard for user experience in the collaborative robot markets, providing a robot that can automatically adapts to applications without manual programming.

But what are these OB7 cobots really capable of? Let’s take a closer look.

How to use OB7 from Productive Robotics?

After unpacking the robot, its interface, and the control base, you can set up the robot arm on the mounting flange and connect it to the power supply. After turning on the interface, you can now start teaching your OB7 robot a task.

To do this, go to the learning menu on the interface and create a new application. Then you just have to guide the robot’s movements so that it automatically defines the programming block. You can also check and specify the nature, speed, and load of the task. But OB7 is made to perform the task efficiently and accurately.

Once you have shown all the steps of the task, OB7 can replicate the full process smoothly and successfully. To go faster in this learning phase, you can also define the number of repetitions and parts to handle. When done, by going to the work mode, the robot will then perform the task in a loop without needing any intervention.

This automatic task recognition can be adapted to any type of end effector, whether a basic gripper, material feeder, or custom force sensor. For vision applications, the OB Vision module requires only some user demonstrations to identify and capture objects.

Which applications can OB7 possibly handle ?

Although OB7 is not yet designed for more complex applications, it handles with great productivity essential industrial tasks such as :

• Machine tending CNC
• Pick & Place
• Assembly of parts
• Product packaging
• Deburring and Sanding
• Laser Cutting
• Material distribution
• Quality control

What does interaction with the OB7 series actually look like?

Let’s say it right away, OB7 definitely achieves in making automation possible at high speed in industries. Even if some technical aspects need some improvements, the interaction with the cobot provides great results for several reasons.

First, the technical specs of the various OB7 models are particularly remarkable. From 1000 to 1700 mm and from 5 to 8 kg, the robot arm can perform tasks with high productivity. Even more, the 7ᵉ axis of motion provides greater agility in opening machine doors or moving parts from one line to another. This makes it especially effective on applications like CNC machine loading. Compatibility with a variety of accessories also enables good versatility in these tasks.

The sensory technologies are also of high quality. The force sensors can detect the edges and shapes of objects quite well and prevent dangerous interaction with workers. The built-in position encoder also enables the robot to find accurately its way around its workspace. The computer vision module provides great flexibility compared to competing programmable solutions by recognizing objects with some demonstrations.

Finally, Productive Robotics almost complete the challenge of code-free learning. Workers only have to turn on the interface and show the performing gestures to define a task. The robotic can then replicate the same gesture with intelligence, even if not always perfectly. However, the user has to perform all the steps of the same application to make sure it works properly, which can be a bit time-consuming. But built-in application templates can speed up the work. The robot can also be quickly installed and redeployed on new production lines.