“Meeting Stackit’s ‘twenty times faster’ productivity goals rely heavily on the inertia of the gripper and ensuring that the settling time of the robot remained accurate. Combined with the further financial pressure of low labor rates in many manufacturing countries, Grabit needed a cost-effective robot. (Credit: TM Robotics)įinding a customizable robot at a competitive price point proved difficult, but manufacturing in the footwear and apparel industry is driven by costs. Grabit makes robots that make shoe uppers work 20 times faster than humans. What’s more, because Grabit’s electroadhesion gripper is so large, the robot needed to be able to withstand a big moment of inertia and offer the ability to rotate accurately.” “Because of the vast applications for Stackit, we needed a robot with a large reach, that would not lose the high levels of precision needed for exacting material handling applications like the shoes from Nike. “The process looked at several factors,” said Harsha Prahlad, Grabit’s co-founder and chief technology and products officer. This prior understanding of industrial robots enabled us to fine tune our requirements before approaching any manufacturers.”Īfter selecting a handful of potential robot manufacturers, including Toshiba Machine, Grabit planned an extensive test and selection procedure to examine the potential of each one. “Two members of our team already had extensive experience in robot design, and both had been involved in the development of several SCARA robots. “Choosing the wrong robot could have a detrimental effect on the entire design of the system,” explained Miller. But despite initial excitement, the Toshiba robot did not meet the requirements. Grabit was intrigued by a Japanese circuit board manufacturer that mounted one of its grippers onto a Toshiba Machine robot.
Grabit’s search for the perfect robot armīefore the Stackit robots could assist a company’s manufacturing process, Grabit had to find the perfect robot arm for its electroadhesion grippers. Greg Miller, Grabit’s CEO, says electroadhesion enables it to do things robot grasping companies that use human-like techniques are unlikely to ever accomplish. Grabit says its technology is capable of handling an egg, soft fabric, or a 50-pound box. This allows the grippers to pick up objects. The grippers use a flat pad of electrodes that create an electric field that adheres to most surfaces. Unlike many of today’s robots, Grabit doesn’t try to mimic human grasping techniques. It’s apparently adept at helping robots grasp objects in a novel way. Grabit’s Stackit robots don’t mimic human graspingĮlectroadhesion is the static electricity that makes your hair stand up when you rub it against a balloon. This article examines Grabit’s technology and how it found the perfect robot arm for its grippers. Grabit says the apparel industry is a $200-$300 million market for robotics makers. The sneaker giant not only acquired a minority stake in Grabit in 2013, it is installing about a dozen Stackit robots throughout factories in Mexico and China. Nike is a firm believer in Grabit’s technology.
Grabit pro software#
Grabit customers pay a fee for the software and have to periodically replace the electroadhesive pads. The robots reportedly cost $100,000 each. At this pace, Nike’s return on investment (ROI) would be two years. Over the course of an eight-hour shift, Grabit’s Stackit robots can help make 300-600 pairs of Nikes. Using Grabit‘s electroadhesion-based robotic grippers, Nike can now manufacture its shoe uppers in as little as 50 seconds. It can take a human worker up to 20 minutes to arrange those materials.Ī Silicon Valley-based startup is helping Nike assemble shoe uppers more than 20 times faster than humans. Assembling a pair of Nikes, for example, requires up to 40 pieces of material to be stacked and heated to create the shoe upper, which is the flexible part that sits on top of your foot. Material handling is one of the most labor-intensive and expensive aspects of manufacturing. Grabit’s shoemaking robot at company headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.
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