As laboratory automation and diagnostic equipment become more compact and increasingly dense, robot selection is no longer driven solely by reach and payload. Space constraints often dictate machine architecture just as much as performance requirements. Engineers need robots that can operate efficiently in tight spaces without sacrificing speed, payload, or flexibility.
This is where Oriental Motor's OVR Series SCARA robots offer a distinct advantage. The OVR Series SCARA Robots were developed specifically to address the growing need for compact, high-performance automation robots. With a flat, low-profile mechanical design, full 360° motion capability, and payloads up to 10 kg, the robot provides machine builders with a robotic solution that optimizes layouts, reduces cycle times, and improves ROI.
What's covered?
👉 Challenges Facing Modern Laboratory Robotic Automation
👉 Why Automation Engineers Choose SCARA Robots
👉 Limitations of Traditional SCARA Robots
👉 What's Different About the OVR Series SCARA Robots
👉 Complete Engineering Support
👉 Summary
Challenges Facing Modern Laboratory Robotic Automation
SCARA robots have long been a preferred choice for pick-and-place and transfer applications because of their speed and efficiency in horizontal motion. The applications commonly found in modern laboratory automation systems, including sample transport, microplate handling, tube transfers, decapping, and pipetting support, are particularly well-suited to SCARA technology.
This video demonstrates how Oriental Motor's OVR Series SCARA Robot works in a liquid-handling automation demonstration that integrates multiple motion systems to achieve reliable, repeatable operations. The robot can operate independently or be integrated as a component of a complete automation platform. Other motion axes in this video are driven by motors or actuators from our αSTEP AZ Series Hybrid Step-Servo Product Family for unified control (the same as the robot).
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Modern laboratory automation systems must perform various tasks within a very compact footprint: ✅ Sample transport ✅ Pipetting ✅ Tube handling ✅ Decapping ✅ Reagent dispensing ✅ Microplate transfers ✅ Inspection and sorting ✅ Conveyors ✅ Pumps ✅ Other precision positioning needs |
Key Engineering Challenges
For these systems, the trending challenges are shrinking spaces, higher throughput, and maintainability. As throughput demands increase, robot selection becomes less about simply reaching a location and more about reaching it quickly, efficiently, and without consuming valuable machine space.
Why Automation Engineers Choose SCARA Robots
In laboratory automation, cycle time and takt time often depend on the speed of repetitive transfer movement. SCARA robots remain popular because they provide:
- High-speed X-Y transport
- Excellent repeatability
- Fast pick-and-place motion
- Compact footprints relative to articulated robots and Cartesian robots
- Efficient horizontal transfer capability
Limitations of Traditional SCARA Robots
Traditional SCARA robots on the market often feature a tall design for both the body itself and the vertical axis that moves the end-effector up and down. This design requires greater clearance for the robot and the end-effector's vertical axis. Without full 360° rotational freedom on the final arm, the arms require longer travel paths to reach their composite TCP destination. This can cause other issues, such as interference with its surroundings, larger required footprint, and reduced layout flexibility.
The traditional SCARA robot requires engineers to design the machine around the robot rather than placing the robot where it needs to be. This can lead to an inefficient design with wider spacing between stations, larger machine footprints, longer travel paths, or reduced layout flexibility.
What's Different About the OVR Series SCARA Robots
The OVR Series SCARA Robots are designed for high-speed horizontal transport applications where precision, repeatability, and compact integration are critical.
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The OVR Series offers Standard Type and Full 360° Type SCARA Robots: 👍 Lightweight, low-profile construction 👍 Compact pedestal-mounted footprint 👍 Maximum reach: 410 to 700 mm 👍 Maximum payload: 3 or 10 kg 👍 Maximum composite speed (TCP): 1,000 mm/s at rated load 👍 ±360° rotation on the upper axis (Full 360° Type) 👍 Protective cover design (Full 360° Type) 👍 Complete lineup includes the Robot Controllers and software |
Unlike many compact robots that trade payload capacity for reduced size, the OVR Series combines substantial load capacity with a flat, low-profile design. This enables engineers to deploy a robot without significantly redesigning the layout.
Why Low-Profile Architecture Matters
Traditional SCARA robots often create larger interference zones due to their taller structure and arm geometry. As equipment becomes denser, machine builders frequently need to increase spacing between stations to accommodate robot movement.
The design of the OVR Series SCARA robots reduces these constraints by enabling them to operate closer to surrounding equipment. The flat, low-profile structure and thinner arm geometry enable placement and access to narrow spaces that are more difficult for traditional SCARA robots. Rather than designing equipment around robot clearance requirements, engineers can often design the robot into the machine architecture itself. The result is improved machine density, reduced equipment footprint, and greater flexibility when arranging components within the work cell.
| The OVR Series SCARA Robots have a height of 137 mm (Standard Type) or 223 mm (Full 360° Type). | For the Full 360° Type, the outer arm is only 63 mm thick. For the Standard Type, it's 56 mm. |
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Full 360° Motion Increases Throughput
Since the design of the Full 360° Type SCARA robots enables the upper arm to rotate fully around its base and over itself without any mechanical limitations, the arms can plan motion paths more efficiently. Cycle times and takt times can be reduced, which leads to higher throughput. The Full 360° Type Robots are not only space-efficient but also motion-efficient.
This fundamentally changes how robotic automation engineers can plan their motion control and design layout. With limited-motion SCARA robots, workstations are often positioned to accommodate preferred approach directions and avoid potential arm interference. These restrictions can force compromises in machine layout.
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Compared to an OVR Series Standard Type SCARA Robot, a Full 360° Type OVR Series SCARA Robot can reduce takt time by 37% and increase throughput. Maximum composite speed for TCP is 1,000 mm/s. |
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The OVR Series Full 360° Type SCARA Robots create several advantages for compact laboratory automation:
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👍 More efficient workstation placement 👍Greater freedom during machine design 👍Reduced dead travel |
👍More direct approach paths 👍Better utilization of available machine space |
End Effector Selection
While robot specifications often receive a lot of attention, productivity depends heavily on the end effector mounted at the end of the arm. End-effectors are the fingers or suction cups that actually pick up the parts.
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There are many types of grippers available on the market. You can start by selecting either a pneumatic gripper for speed or an electric gripper for more controllability and precision. Among pneumatic and electric grippers, many configurations are available, including pneumatic gripper actuators, electric gripper actuators, vacuum grippers, and simple tray carriers. If you select a gripper, how many fingers would you need to pick up your part properly? The primary selection factor is the technology, and the remaining choices depend on the gripper's design, repeatability, and performance. |
EH Series 2-Finger and 3-Finger Grippers
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Since end effectors ultimately interact with the parts, workpieces, or samples, improving end-effector accessibility often provides greater practical value than increasing robot reach alone. For example, you can mount a gripper at the end of the arm to pick up a small part and place it elsewhere. If you need the gripper to move downward to pick up an object, you can add another compact linear actuator to move the gripper up and down. Some newer SCARA designs combine a SCARA robot with a lifting column actuator, which lifts the entire robot to access vertical spaces. For advanced robot control with a vision system, Oriental Motor's MRC01 Robot Controller or MRCU Series Integrated Robot Controllers can be integrated with a vision system to detect coordinate changes and pick up randomly placed parts.
Self-Maintenance is Possible
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The design of the OVR Series SCARA Robots allows customers to replace the actuator on each axis. This reduces the maintenance cost and time after installation. Please contact us for more information. |
For machine builders, success depends on selecting components that integrate well with the overall system architecture. A robot that reduces footprint, simplifies layout decisions, and supports application-specific tooling can contribute significantly to faster development and improved design.
Complete Engineering Support
Successful robot integration involves more than selecting specifications from a catalog or website. Automation projects frequently require assistance with:
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☑️ Robot sizing ☑️ End-effector selection ☑️ Layout optimization ☑️ Motion planning ☑️ Controller integration ☑️ Multi-axis system design ☑️ Software programming ☑️ Load simulation |
To provide complete support for our OVR Series Industrial Robots, end-effectors, robot controllers, and MRC Studio software, Oriental Motor offers a Robot Support Lab for proof-of-concept testing, simulations, and training. Potential robot users can try the trial version of the software or visit the facility to learn how to program our robots. If you send us your parts, we can demonstrate how our robot and gripper can pick up and move them.
By offering robots, motion products, controllers, drives, and application support within a unified portfolio, Oriental Motor can help engineers develop complete motion solutions rather than assembling systems from unrelated suppliers.
Summary
The OVR Series SCARA Robots feature a low-profile design with a small footprint and a thin arm that can reach into narrow workspaces. While the Standard Type offers a 3 kg load capacity and a maximum reach of 410 mm, the Full 360° Type offers up to a 10 kg load capacity and a maximum reach of either 460 mm or 700 mm. Both types offer a maximum composite TCP speed of 1,000 mm/second.
The biggest advantage of the OVR Series SCARA Robot is not simply its reduced height. The Full 360° Type SCARA Robots combine a flat structure with full 360° omnidirectional motion capability to create a more efficient automation platform. Compared to the Standard Type that offers the same maximum composite speed, a Full 360° Type SCARA Robot can reduce takt times by 37%.
For applications such as laboratory automation and diagnostics equipment, these advantages can translate into denser machine layouts, shorter motion paths, improved throughput, and easier system integration. As automation equipment continues to become more compact and complex, low-profile SCARA robots offer engineers a practical way to achieve higher performance without requiring more space.
Related:
OVR Series: A Family of Easy-to-Use Small Industrial Robots
Dedicated Robot Controller and Programming Software Make Robotics Easier
How to Unlock Vision-Based Robot Control With The MRC Studio Software
