Purple Robotics, which has developed an innovative vacuum gripper specifically for cobots, has now been acquired by OnRobot. The acquisition took place two months after the OnRobot merger of three robotics companies from the United States, Hungary and Denmark that created one global player with a strong focus on the market for industrial robot accessories.
With the acquisition of Purple Robotics, OnRobot can now offer its partners the dual vacuum gripper.
Purple Robotics was established by Lasse Kieffer, Henrik Tillitz Hansen and Peter Nadolny Madsen, all of whom have a background as product developers at Universal Robots. OnRobot is now infusing this valuable expertise into its own existing R&D department at its headquarters in Odense.
The Purple Robotics dual vacuum gripper can, so to speak, give a robot arm two "hands" and thereby the ability to handle several items simultaneously and solve multiple tasks in one movement. Additionally, it has an electric pump integrated in the gripper itself, meaning users do not need to worry about hoses, compressed air and cables as with conventional vacuum gripper solutions.
It takes less than 30 minutes to install the Purple Robotics gripper on a robot and start it up. The vacuum gripper is able to gently and efficiently handle items of many different dimensions, weights, materials and shapes. The lifting capacity is 10 kg (22 lbs.) and the robot gripper is designed for use on a range of lightweight robots from all robot manufacturers.
"It must be easily conceivable to automate even small production batches," said Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO, OnRobot. "Otherwise, robot technology is not a good investment. This is why we hand pick the best and most user-friendly robot products and integrate them in OnRobot. We are extremely pleased to now be able to offer our robot partners and integrators the vacuum gripper."
The vacuum gripper was presented in the U.S. to robot equipment buyers at IMTS 2018. After the spring merger of the three robotics companies-OnRobot, Perception Robotics and OptoForce-the OnRobot product range now features a wide assortment of robot equipment, including electric grippers, force-moment sensors, gecko grippers and tactile sensors.
"We are now one step closer to our vision of offering `one-stop-shopping' for buyers of robot accessories," Enrico Krog Iversen added.
For more information contact:
OnRobot Americas
222 W Las Colinas Blvd.
Irving, TX 75039
www.onrobot.com