The humanoid robotic market may expertise a increase, with projections indicating a considerable and sustained enhance over the following decade. Source: Freudenberg Sealing Technologies
Industrial robots have change into indispensable in trendy manufacturing, performing duties with precision, pace, and effectivity. As we glance forward, humanoid robots may quickly develop, not solely in manufacturing, but in addition in a variety of purposes. Specially designed sealing options fabricated from high-performance supplies can be wanted to assist help the following technology of robotics, famous Freudenberg Sealing Technologies.
The humanoid market is about to expertise a increase, with projections indicating a considerable and sustained enhance over the following decade. The international marketplace for humanoid robots was roughly $2.43 billion U.S. in 2023, however by 2032, it’d develop to $66 billion, in keeping with Fortune Business Insights.
Such projections spotlight the rising presence of those two-legged machines throughout a number of industries, their rise fueled by developments in automation and their capability to work together in a human-like method.
Last 12 months, international automaker BMW garnered consideration by deploying a Figure 02 robotic at its manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, N.C., integrating the system into physique development and sheet steel processing. Standing roughly 1.7 m (5 ft., 7 in.) tall, the Figure AI humanoid reportedly demonstrated its potential in industrial settings.
Similarly, Amazon has experimented with Digit from Agility Robotics in U.S. warehouses, signaling rising curiosity throughout totally different sectors in evaluating their advantages for numerous enterprise fashions.
Sealing options can help robotics progress
As humanoids develop in use, seals will play a key position of their operation, particularly for built-in hydraulic or pneumatic actuators that function the robotic’s “muscles” and provoke their actions.
Global sealing supplier Freudenberg Sealing Technologies considers humanoid robots to be a younger however not unfamiliar area. The firm has expertise within the growth of made-to-order options for industrial robots reminiscent of collaborative robotic arms, SCARA robots, delta robots, six-axis robots, and automatic guided automobiles (AGVs). This leads to a pure pathway to offer seals that fulfill humanoid design necessities, all the best way to the finger joints.
The sealing applied sciences utilized in robotic purposes have to be extraordinarily strong, long-lasting, and fabricated from low-friction supplies to help lengthy hours of operation and repetitive actions.
Solutions reminiscent of Ingress Protection Seals for Robots (ISPR) cowl all these attributes, offering safety towards dangerous environmental influences reminiscent of mud or water, in keeping with Freudenberg. Such seals may carry out properly in very small set up areas and may compensate for each axial and tangential displacements.
The firm added that its IPSR seal is already being constructed into humanoids by a well known worldwide robotic producer.
Another sealing product doubtlessly relevant to humanoid robots is the Premium Sine Seal (PSS). Thanks to its particular qualities, the seal can be utilized in motors and gearboxes of industrial robots. With its distinctive design, it seals reliably each externally and internally, stopping contamination.
Due to its low friction, the PSS ensures that much less of a robotic’s efficiency is misplaced over time and actively counteracts inner contamination within the sealing system, Freudenberg stated.
In addition, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) wafer seals present friction discount in robots. These disk seals fabricated from high-performance PTFE plastic are water-repellent, can be utilized in a particularly wide selection of temperatures, and are in demand in numerous industries.
Sealing supplies utilized in robots reminiscent of cobots and humanoids should meet numerous challenges and necessities to make sure optimum efficiency and supply an extended service life. Source: Freudenberg Sealing Technologies
Battery and thermal administration supplies
Miniaturized options are one other pattern for trade, together with in humanoid robots, the place energy techniques have to be compact as a result of batteries are sometimes put in within the machine’ thorax area and have to be compact.
Not solely are these batteries anticipated to be diminutive, however additionally they want to supply excessive efficiency. However, this typically equals extra warmth technology, which is why the supplies surrounding the batteries have to be heat-resistant.
The proper supplies can tackle the problem of thermal administration in humanoid robots. One instance is Freudenberg’s just lately developed Quantix ULTRA thermoplastic, which may stand up to temperatures as excessive as 1,200°C (2,192°F).
Existing makes use of for this materials embrace electric-vehicle battery purposes, because it meets the flame-retardant necessities for such environments. In addition, the fabric has been an possibility for the encasement of necessary electrically conductive rails often known as busbars inside electrical powertrains.
As robotics and humanoid deployments scale, demand for such supplies can be more likely to develop.
Now accepting session submissions!
Freudenberg equips humanoids for demanding environments
Automation producers are searching for seals with a damping impact that may additionally hold moisture out on the identical time. Both are preconditions for the most recent class of robots being developed to work in new purposes.
Humanoids aren’t anticipated to work solely in factories and warehouses. Some individuals predict that they are going to discover roles in caregiving and even outdoor in harsh climate and dealing circumstances. That means the seals within the extremely delicate joints have to be particularly immune to filth and the penetration of moisture.
Looking additional forward, it’s conceivable that humanoid robots could possibly be utilized in hazardous environments, reminiscent of in mining operations, the place the seals themselves and the supplies they’re created from must be terribly strong and sturdy.
When it involves boosting the potential of humanoids, it’s necessary to show them rapidly, which remains to be a tedious course of. The workforce at Freudenberg believes that machine studying might be accelerated with the usage of electromagnetic rubber compounds for muscular motion, neural indicators, and even brainwave transmission.
Such compounds have already been utilized in Asia for life-science purposes. If they had been utilized to the arms of humanoids, they might relay haptic indicators that could possibly be processed for robotic movement management.
As a outcome, builders can discover that sealing consultants can supply another strategy to robotic studying and autonomy along with help for remote-controlled purposes. This could possibly be extra intuitive and environment friendly than conventional programming and video shadowing. These are just a few concepts of how firms with an intensive information of supplies may transfer within the course of electromagnetic supplies.
Freudenberg has already visited a number of humanoid makers and shared info on growing tailored supplies and sealing product designs primarily based on its in-depth R&D capabilities. Sealing consultants are laying the inspiration to increase humanoid robots’ vary of purposes whereas rising their security, longevity and vary of features.
About the creator and Freudenberg
About the creator and Freudenberg
Hunter Cheng is the worldwide section supervisor for robotics at Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies. With a multi-cultural background and almost a decade of give attention to sealings for robotics, Cheng is now working with worldwide colleagues to kind a worldwide group serving robotics makers around the globe.
Automated techniques are getting smaller and extra environment friendly, they usually should endure harsh environmental circumstances reminiscent of excessive or low warmth, plus harsh chemical substances. To ship productiveness, reliability, and security enhancements, Freudenberg affords sealing techniques for all sorts of robots.
Plymouth, Mich.-based Freudenberg will exhibit at Booth 4839 at Automate in Detroit this week.