In high-volume manufacturing, every second matters. Although traditional SCARA robots have been a staple in assembly and material handling, their limited rotational range can often cause delays that can keep them from maximizing throughput.
What's covered?
What is a SCARA Robot?
A SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) is a type of industrial arm robot featuring a linked, parallel-arm design that folds like human arms in the X-Y plane. It typically requires 3 rotary motion axes, or arm joints, to move an end-effector that's mounted at the end of the arms, and each arm joint is driven by either a stepper motor or a servo motor. Due to their design, SCARAs are generally faster than comparable Cartesian robot systems and are ideal for quick, repeatable movements, such as pick-and-place, assembly, or inspection operations. The SCARA robot was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in 2006. It was the 2nd industrial robot and the 3rd Japanese robot to be included.
Traditional SCARA robots are tall and can feature mechanical designs that limit the rotational range of the primary arm. Both are disadvantages that limit the robots' potential applications or motion path efficiency.
For example, if the robot is too tall, it may not be effective at pick-and-place operations where space is limited. If the primary arm cannot fully rotate 360°, it will have to use alternative motion paths that may not be as efficient as a straight line.
What's Different About Our SCARA Robots?
First, these Full 360° Type Robots feature a flatter design, with an overall height of only 137~205 mm. The secondary arm that's linked to the end of the primary arm is only 100 mm tall, so it can reach and grab parts in narrow spaces that other SCARA robots may not be able to access.
Let's take a look at an application example of a SCARA robot transferring parts from one conveyor to another. On the left, it shows a SCARA robot from Oriental Motor. On the right, it shows a typical SCARA robot. As you can see, the tall SCARA robot takes up too much space. Our flatter SCARA robot can perform the same pick-and-place operation even when another conveyor is on top of it. By adding a lifting axis, the same SCARA robot can now transfer parts from two conveyors.
| OVR Series SCARA Robot | Typical SCARA Robot |
| All motion axes, or arm joints, feature our αSTEP Hybrid Step-Servo motors and actuators for battery-free, sensor-free absolute position control, improving reliability and making the design more compact. | |
| Our MRCU Integrated Robot Controllers include the robot controller and all required drivers for each robot axis. Together with the easy-to-use MRC Studio programming software, we provide an easy, convenient, all-in-one solution for controlling OVR Series small industrial robots. | |
| Another benefit that makes OVR Series SCARA robots unique is that they can be self-maintained by the customer. This reduces the maintenance burden (cost and time) after installation. No need to involve the manufacturer...unless you want to. |
Why Omnidirectional Motion Matters
Through an improvement in mechanical design, the OVR Series Full 360° Type SCARA Robots are also capable of omnidirectional motion. This means the primary arm axis can perform a full 360° rotation without any limitations.
What this means for the user is more efficient motion path routing for point-to-point movements, which means shorter takt times and faster cycles. With shorter takt times and faster cycles, the SCARA robot can transfer more parts for higher throughput. In this case, less means more for your production facility.
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Traditional SCARA Robots
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Full 360° Type SCARA Robots
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Full 360° Type SCARA robots can achieve up to 37% cycle time reduction compared to traditional SCARA robots.
Introducing the OVR Series Full 360° Type SCARA Robots
The OVR Series Full 360° Type 3-Axis SCARA Robots from Oriental Motor redefine what SCARA robots can do.
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Technical Highlights |
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This combination of speed, precision, and flexibility makes the OVR Series ideal for modern production lines.
Application Examples
Our SCARA robots excel in pick-and-place operations in narrow spaces. Reduced takt times due to more efficient motion path routing contribute to higher throughput across various industries and applications.
| Testing & Measurement | Semiconductor Tools | Electronics Assembly | Parts Inspection | Wafer Handling |
How to Get Started with Robots
Oriental Motor is fully equipped to support a wide range of applications for our OVR Series small industrial robots. We offer free consultations with a dedicated robot support team, robot/programming training, and a proof-of-concept robot lab for customers to experience our robots in a test environment. You can even send us a part, and we'll simulate how our robot picks it up and moves it.