Connectivity: A more compact and efficient robotics world

Connectivity: A more compact and efficient robotics world

——Interview with Xian Wei, Robotics Industry Manager of HARTING Technology Group

Xian Wei, Robotics Industry Manager at HARTING Technology Group

Robots have been hailed as "the jewel in the crown of manufacturing", and the research and development, manufacturing, and application of industrial robots are important indicators of a country's scientific and technological innovation and high-end manufacturing level. With the continuous upgrading of China's overall industrial chain, as well as the continued decline in China's birth rate, difficulty in recruiting workers, a decrease in the working-age workforce, and increasing labor costs, China's industrial robots have broad market growth potential. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, China's industrial robot production reached 366,000 units in 2021, a 10-fold increase from 2015. The scale of the industry has grown rapidly, and its applications cover 60 major industries in the national economy, ranking first in the world's largest industrial robot market.

With the development of industrial robot technology that is becoming increasingly intelligent, modular, and diversified in application, the importance of various power, signal, and data connections related to robot systems is also becoming increasingly prominent, and they can be regarded as the "lifeline" in advanced and mature industrial robot system architectures.

HARTING Technology Group (hereinafter referred to as HARTING), a leading global supplier of industrial connection technology, has been committed to the three main arteries of industrial technology - data, signal and power connection technology for decades. In the field of industrial robots, HARTING is bringing more innovative value to robot customers with its comprehensive connection solutions.

Key connectivity challenges

According to Xian Wei, manager of the robotics industry at Harting Technology Group, the current trend of industrial robots becoming smarter, modular and more diversified has brought a series of challenges to the application of connection technology. Specifically, they include:

First, with the continuous application of various automation technologies such as sensor technology and big data in industrial robots, industrial robots are gradually developing towards the intelligent direction of autonomous learning and autonomous operation. Therefore, industrial robots will add more connection nodes of sensors and other devices. How to ensure the stable and reliable transmission of large amounts of data at the connection points will be particularly important, especially in a relatively complex industrial field environment; at the same time, it is also necessary to ensure that the interface can meet the latest industry standards and ensure that it can be compatible with other devices.

Secondly, industrial robots often need to be manufactured in large quantities, and there are relatively high requirements for product standardization, which can ensure the performance of robot products to the greatest extent. The modularization of each core component of the robot has laid a solid foundation for the standardization of the entire robot. More importantly, modular customization will better meet the market's continuous demand for the rapid launch of new models. To this end, the modular structure requires that its interface needs to meet the application combination of various power, signal and data connections, and especially requires a rich and complete connector product line as a basis, so that users can flexibly make various combinations, and it is best to be able to customize development in combination with the latest user needs.

Third, the application of robots has expanded from the initial automotive industry and 3C industry to more general industrial fields. Especially with the upgrading of domestic industries and the impact of the epidemic, industrial robots have gradually penetrated into some industrial segments and commercial fields. With the extensive application of robots in various industries, the demand for power, signal and data connections will continue to be extended and expanded. Extensive application performance and rich product lines will be the key to ensure the success of various applications.

Creating the value of connection

"Whether it is a 6-axis robot, SCARA, parallel robot or collaborative robot, HARTING's representative products such as Han®D, Han®module, Han®K, and Han®Q series, as well as general-purpose products such as M8/12, RJ45, Dsub series, can provide industrial robot customers with one-stop connection solutions and services from connectors to overall wiring harnesses." Xian Wei said.

These world-leading connection products and industry solutions of Harting have been widely used in robot bodies, control cabinets, pipeline packages, various peripheral supporting equipment (such as welding guns, glue coating, etc.), and system integration projects. They not only provide customers with rich and highly reliable connection solutions, but also help customers solve the modularization and standardized structural design of their products.

It is reported that Harting's outstanding advantages in the industrial robot industry are mainly reflected in:

Complete product line: covering all common power, signal and data connectors and wiring harnesses for industrial robots

 Rich application experience: It is used in the four major robot families, domestic leading robot companies, and their system integration projects.

 Products comply with domestic and international standards: 3C, CE, UL and other certifications are complete

Leading the technical standards and development trends of the industrial connector industry: Based on the original Han series, we continue to develop new generation products, such as the Han Domino series compact modular products, single-pair Ethernet iX and other series products.

In the past two years, thanks to the localization of international robot companies and the continuous rise of Chinese local robot brands, "the growth rate of Harting's robot industry business is higher than the average growth rate of the domestic industrial robot industry market, and it has achieved certain results in the wiring harness business," Xian Wei said. "Looking to the future, we will leverage the Harting brand and product advantages to continuously expand emerging businesses and actively serve Chinese robot industry customers in a more localized way - because we are determined to become a trusted industrial connection solution partner for the Chinese robot industry!"