Courtesy of Rethink Robotics, Inc

Rethink Robotics has provided an exciting glimpse into the future of collaborative robotics with the introduction of Sawyer, a single-arm, high-performance robot designed to execute machine tending, circuit board testing and other precise tasks that have historically been impractical to automate with traditional industrial robots. 

Sawyer is a significant addition to the company's smart, collaborative robot family, which also includes the groundbreaking Baxter robot that defined the category of safe, interactive, affordable automation.

Sawyer offers the same highly-touted safety, compliance and usability advantages of Baxter - including the iconic "face" screen, embedded sensors and train-by-demonstration user interface - while providing the smaller footprint and high precision performance needed for tasks that require significant agility and flexibility.

In addition, Sawyer runs on the Intera software system, the same extensible platform that powers Baxter, so it works like humans do by dynamically adapting to real-world conditions on the plant floor and integrating seamlessly into existing work cells. Together, Baxter and Sawyer can address many of the estimated 90 percent of manufacturing tasks that cannot be feasibly automated with traditional solutions today.

Weighing only 19 kg (42 lbs), Sawyer features a 4kg (8.8 lb) payload, with 7 degrees of freedom and a 1-meter reach that can maneuver into the tight spaces and varied alignments of work cells designed for humans. 

Its high-resolution force sensing, embedded at each joint, enables Rethink Robotics' compliant motion control, which allows the robot to "feel" its way into fixtures or machines, even when parts or positions vary. This enables an adaptive precision that is unique to the robotics industry and allows Sawyer to work effectively in semi-structured environments.  

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