Yaskawa is aiming to open the door for a new stage of robotic automation with its Motoman NEXT Platform. The platform is designed to drive adaptive robot automation by leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Yaskawa intends to increase the intelligence of robotic systems with the launch of the Motoman NEXT platform in North American markets.

Created through cooperation between Yaskawa Electric Corporation and a network of industry and technical partners, this next-generation robot platform is the first in the industrial robot sector to have autonomous adaptivity and an open development environment that facilitates increased communication and expandable functionality to equip robots with the ability to execute challenging tasks autonomously in unstructured environments.

Seeking an integrated, intelligent, and innovative approach

Extending Yaskawa’s solution concept of i3-Mechatronics, Motoman NEXT serves to realize an integrated, intelligent and innovative approach to industrial automation through the harnessing of digital data and the utilization of mechatronic solutions such as high-performance robots and servo drives.

Yaskawa intends to introduce robotics into areas not already running automation. “This new hardware architecture provides autonomous adaptivity to an environment, expanding robotic deployment into previously unautomated areas,” said Chris Caldwell, product manager for Yaskawa America Inc. – Motoman Robotics Division. “The ability to leverage cutting-edge technology with AI processing allows for more intuitive robot utilization with human-like perception, enabling information and work to be structured as conscious flow for extremely productive operations.”

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Seven robot models are available

A key component of Motoman NEXT is a lineup of dedicated manipulators. Ranging in payload capacity from 4 kg to 35 kg, seven robot models are available. Five industrial robots (NEX4, NEX7, NEX10, NEX20, and NEX35) are joined by two collaborative robots (NHC12 and NHC30), with each robot utilizing the extremely compact YNX1000 controller.

Image courtesy of Yaskawa.

Motoman NEXT robots are powered by NVIDIA Isaac accelerated libraries and AI models, running on NVIDIA Jetson Orin autonomous control units (ACUs) with Wind River Linux. This combination provides integrated AI processing and human-like decision-making for each robot, creating more intelligent systems capable of achieving higher levels of autonomy.

The Motoman NEXT platform will be featured in the Yaskawa Motoman booths at IMTS (236601) and Pack Expo 2024 (#N-5736). Modeled and based on real-world applications for order fulfillment warehouses that feature ASRS or hive item retrieval, this proof-of-concept work cell will feature NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator, a reference workflow of NVIDIA-accelerated libraries and AI models that gives industrial arm robots the ability  to detect items and complete warehouse fulfillment tasks.

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