Organization: maxon motor
Country: Switzerland
Website: robotics.maxongroup.com
Year Founded: 1961
Number of Employees: 500+
Innovation Class: Technology
Robotics developers should not have to worry about the complexity of actuators, asserted maxon group. The company last April launched a new portfolio of 15 drive systems to provide high performance and reliability.
Robust hardware and scalable manufacturing are key requirements for robots, particularly systems such as quadrupeds or humanoid robots operating in unstructured environments, said maxon. It said it is “uniquely suited” to provide a low-cost, fully integrated, and highly compliant product family.
The High Efficiency Joint line incorporates everything that is needed for a self-contained robotic joint -- electronics, motor, gear, encoders, cross-roller bearings, sealings, and structural support, said maxon. It is also IP67-rated against dust and water and can be impedance-controlled.
“As far as we know, we're the first -- and currently only -- provider of such fully integrated and advanced actuators,” the company claimed. “They are also innovative in the sense that they are highly robust against impacts and over torques, while still achieving a high torque density and high dynamics. Uniquely, they are also based on planetary gears.”
The High Precision Joints are more configurable systems based on strain-wave gearboxes and high-resolution output encoders. This line is targeted more at systems integrators than developers, said maxon.
The Sachsein, Switzerland-based company said it has already seen strong demand for these actuators, especially in legged robots. It is offering the two product lines and planning a smaller version with the same unified sensing platforms (USPs).
“This enables robotics companies to quickly develop a highly performant robot, with reliable and well-engineered actuators as a key building block,” maxon said.
In addition, the company offers customization options as part of its support of supply chains, integration, and testing. The actuators can be used in locomotion, propulsion, mobile manipulation, or gripping, and maxon is working with customers on simulation models for reinforcement learning.