DETROIT—Doosan Robotics Inc. yesterday unveiled a diverse lineup of collaborative robots for multiple applications at Automate 2022 here. The company's display at Booth 4123 included the Rokey marketing campaign showing how robotics is becoming key to business processes.
Rokey (pronounced “Rocky”) is intended to explain how Doosan's systems can provide efficiency and assistance at home, in the office and warehouse, across content creators and advertisers, and in the emerging electric vehicle space. The Suwon, South Korea-based company this week established U.S. headquarters in Plano, Texas.
“At Automate 2022, we are showcasing a new paradigm in cobot usefulness, as our Rokey campaign relays the message that this new generation of cobot is extremely user-friendly, safe, and versatile,” stated William Junghoon Ryu, CEO of Doosan Robotics. “With our new lineup of cobots and recent expansion to the U.S., we are looking forward to expanding the marketplace.”
A day in the life with Rokey
During a booth tour, Robotics 24/7 followed a theme of “A day in the life of Jason Smith with Rokey.” It began with the DR.PRESSO coffee-making robot, which has 18 menu options and can prepare an Americano in 15 seconds. Its robot arm and gripper can also securely press a lid onto a cup (see below).
Doosan then demonstrated its NINA camera robot, named for “New Inspiration, New Angle.” The collaborative robot can replicate professional camera angles for content creators and the entertainment industry.
NINA's hardware and software capabilities include 720-degree rotation, ergonomically compact design, joypad and hand teaching control, motion import and export, validated pre-simulation and safety functions providing collision sensitivity powered by six-torque sensors. Doosan was named a CES 2022 Innovation Award Honoree for the system.
The company then showed how its cobot could work with a Moderntec system to plug in and charge an electric car. The rail it was on could be the length of a parking lot to serve multiple vehicles, noted a Doosan representative.
In addition, it showed a mobile manipulator unloading the back of a van. Doosan's system combined a heavy-duty robot arm, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) for navigation, an OnRobot gripper, and a custom-made automated guided vehicle (AGV) base.
Doosan displays commercial cobot uses
In addition to its “closer-to-consumer” (C2C) markets, Doosan Robotics demonstrated its Dart suite for managing robots worldwide. The software is intended to democratize autonomy by enabling authorized users to see an entire warehouse fleet worldwide and to review the status and utilization of individual robots.
Dart uses artificial intelligence to optimize actions, and customers can contact engineers on Doosan's TST team if necessary.
Doosan demonstrated industrial applications with its U.S. partners, including assembly, specifically screwdriving, with Tool House; machine tending with Ellison; welding with MRO; and pick and place and palletizing with Tool House and RG.
The company also showed 3D scanning for automotive inspection with Korean partner Hexagon Metrology. In a grinding and polishing demo, Doosan showed how a user could tilt a smartphone to control the angle of a robot.
Designing a future with more robots
Beyond its Automate exhibits, Doosan Robotics is working on more software-driven capabilities. It works with the Robot Operating System (ROS).
The company said it is building on its suite with a platform and integrated development environment (IDE) so that users can create an “app store” for tasks such as palletizing.
Doosan also plans to offer Dart Meta, a simulation platform to be released in beta in the second half of this year, with an eventual release by 2024.
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