Epson robot

[david90]

Anyone here have personal experience with robots made by Epson? Are they easy to use and reliable?

 

[aidamcg]

Hi

I have used then for the 10+ years both 6 axis and Scara models and have found them to be a very reliable robot provided they are maintained as per manuals. I have Scara robots in full time production for 7 years and the only issue was to replace the Z axis once over that time period. Programming is quite simple using the SPEL+ language which has similar syntax to VB type languages. The newer one are easy to integrate over Ethernet to AB PLC's which can add thousands of I/O

Aidan

 

[kolyur]

We have standardized on Epson for robotics at our facility. I'd estimate that we have about a dozen 6-axis and two dozen 4-axis in production. Most were set up and programmed by us but a few were done by an outside integrator. I've had a good experience with them but I haven't really used any other brands so I can't compare.

The programming is very straightforward and if you've used C in the past you'll pick it up quickly. To me, the ability to use both a PC and a teach pendant for programming is a major plus. I can write the bulk of the program in Windows then use the pendant to set points. We had a Motoman salesman in recently who was trying to convince us that we didn't need the PC programming capability. (Apparently all of Motoman's systems can only be programmed with a teach pendant.) I can't imagine trying to write a complicated program with conditionals, loops, etc. on a teach pendant. So then he backed up and said programs can be written in Notepad and transferred to the controller with a flash drive. (Give me a break--could it be any more inefficient?)

We've had to replace some parts over the years, including a few servo motors and the Z-axis screw of a Scara as Aidan mentioned. But to be fair, the units we've had trouble with are the ones that have experienced the most [literal] crashes. We also learned the hard way to replace the controller and manipulator backup batteries on a consistent schedule. We sent one of our maintenance guys to the Epson robot maintenance class, so we can take care of most problems that come along.