igus

Plastic, cable chains and a cheap cobot

igus of Cologne is known for lubrication-free plastic plain bearings, energy chains and cables for continuous motion (chainflex). For a few years it has also had its own robot arm, the ReBeL. For a Robolupa reader this is a rare case of a company that is both a component supplier to the whole industry and the maker of a finished robot. The Polish branch has operated since 1997, since 2015 in Warsaw on Działkowa Street, and employs more than 120 people.

Components found in every cell

Our materials are dominated by the E4 energy-chain series (E4.1, E4.42, E4.56, E4.80). The catalog describes a tongue-and-groove design that gives high lateral stability on long runs. Alongside are catalogs of chainflex cables, drylin bearings, readychain and twisterchain systems (cables for torsional motion, important in rotary joints) and several datasheets from the S and SE series. A cable moved thousands of times a day wears out, and its service life is a real running cost of an installation. That is why the chain and cable are chosen for the task rather than by eye. Such parts are found in almost every station, regardless of the arm's brand, from FANUC to Universal Robots.

ReBeL — a robot as a product

The ReBeL is a lightweight cobot in a 4- or 6-axis version, with plastic joints. According to sellers' data: maximum reach 664 mm, payload up to 2 kg, weight 8.2 kg, repeatability ±1 mm, operating temperature 0–50 °C. Prices from European sources are around 3,970 euros net for the open version without a controller and 4,970 euros net for the 6-axis plug-and-play version; prices change, and we have not confirmed these figures with the manufacturer. In our catalog the model is covered by igus ReBeL. There is no a ReBeL datasheet, so we treat the parameters as indicative; reading such sheets is covered in “How to Read a Robot Datasheet”.

With a 2 kg payload the ReBeL will not replace a UR5e or a FANUC CRX-10iA, but it is a different price class; a sensible comparison positions it as a robot for learning, assembling light parts and quality inspection. The broader context of choosing a robot is explained in “How to Buy a Cobot Step by Step”, and the definition and limits of the class in “What Is a Cobot and How Does It Differ from an Industrial Robot”. Because of its price it goes into schools and universities settings; compare with educational robots and cobots.

Poland and Europe

igus Polska offers components and low-cost automation from a local branch, which makes it one of the easier suppliers for domestic integrators, with no intermediaries. For projects where the whole cost counts toward the relief, see “Poland's Robotization Tax Relief”. For a market overview the main thing is to separate two roles: bearings and chains enter factories settings as invisible infrastructure, while the ReBeL competes on price with cheap Chinese entry-level cobots such as the Dobot Nova 2.