What is Delta Robot and Where is it Used

Delta robots are an indispensable part of industrial automation. Delta robots, which have a structure consisting of three center-mounted, movable parallel arms with 120 degrees between each other, are mostly preferred in routine and repetitive tasks.

These robots, which have a fast structure with their parallel, movable arms, accelerate industrial production processes and increase the efficiency. These robots, which can quickly and precisely move, assemble and organize products of many different sizes and shapes, are used in many different areas that require packaging and assembly, especially in the food industry.

Delta robots get their name from the inverted triangle-like shape they form with their arms. With their shape resembling the triangular letter delta in the Greek alphabet, delta robots are frequently encountered in assembly lines and packaging units.

History of Delta Robot

The delta robot, also known as the parallel-arm robot, was invented in the early 1980s by Reymond Clavel, a professor at Ekol Polytechnic, a Swiss educational institution specializing in science and engineering, and his team. According to legend, Clavel visited a chocolatier and during this visit he came up with the idea of building a robot that would quickly place the products inside the packages. Therefore, it can be said that the purpose of producing these robots was to contribute to the efficiency of the production process by moving small and light objects at high speed.

In 1987, with the development of delta robots, these robots started to be utilized in the packaging industry. With this development, these robots have become an indispensable part of industrial automation and are frequently used in industrial production processes.

Where is Delta Robot Used?

Delta robots are used in areas such as assembly, part handling and part transfer, packaging and distribution. Thanks to their design, these robots can move fast and perform their tasks with high efficiency. In accordance with these features, these robots are used in many different areas. The areas where Delta robots are utilized are as follows:

• Food Industry
• Electronics Industry
• Automotive Industry
• Pharmaceutical Industry
• Packaging Industry
• Medical Industry
• Food Industry

Delta robots perform operations such as packaging, filling and palletizing in the food industry with the high speed that comes from their design. In packaging units, they pack products quickly, combining high speed with consistency in quality.

Electronics Industry

In the electronics industry, delta robots are used in sensitive processes such as circuit board assembly and soldering. Thus, production processes in the electronics industry are automated.

Automotive Industry

Delta robots are frequently used in applications such as joining, welding and painting parts on assembly lines. Thus, vehicle production is accelerated by increasing efficiency.

Pharmaceutical Industry

These robots are also used in pharmaceutical production and packaging processes. In this way, high-speed production can be carried out in the pharmaceutical industry and more products can be obtained per unit time.

Packaging Industry

In the packaging industry, delta robots are used in stages such as labeling, barcoding and placement of boxes. In this way, packaging processes are automated and production is accelerated.

Medical Industry

In laboratory automation and biomedical research, delta robots make a great contribution.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Delta Robots

Delta robots offer many advantages to manufacturers. One of these advantages is that they are faster than different robots such as SCARA due to their design. The advantages of these robots, which are utilized in assembly lines and production units due to their speed, can be listed as follows:

• Speed Advantage
• Application Advantage
• Flexibility Advantage
• Productivity Advantage
• Size Advantage
• Speed Advantage

The Delta robot’s structure consisting of three parallel arms and its spider-like structure gives it a great speed advantage. In addition, the fact that the movement mechanism of each arm can work simultaneously causes the robot to react much faster. The features of these robots are utilized in packaging and assembly processes.

The fast movement of these robots reduces cycle times in production processes and increases operational efficiency in general. In this way, businesses give themselves an advantage by standing out from their competitors.

Speed is a valuable feature for many different applications of industrial automation. Thanks to high speed, production capacity can be increased and costs can be reduced.

Application Advantage

The kinematic structure of the three parallel arms mounted on the bodies of delta robots helps the robots to move their arms independently of each other. In this way, these robots can quickly and accurately navigate to the desired point.

The sensitive sensors used in such robots enable continuous monitoring of the robot’s position and motion. With the help of sensitive sensors, the movements of the robots are controlled in real time and necessary corrections are made when necessary. This allows the movement of the robot to be realized as desired.

The fact that these robots are made of high quality materials and have relatively tolerant parts increases the precision of the robot. The high precision of these robots is a great advantage in various applications. For example, thanks to this high precision, the use of these robots in electronics assembly lines can ensure accurate placement of small parts.

Flexibility Advantage

Delta robots are used in a wide range of industrial automation processes, from packaging to assembly, processing, palletizing and inspection. Easily reconfigurable and programmable, they can respond quickly to changing demands on the production line.

With a modular structure, these robots can be easily differentiated and customized. In this way, they can perform different tasks and take part in different stages of the industrial production process.

Productivity Advantage

The extra speed brought by the body-mounted parallel arms of Delta robots increases operational efficiency by increasing the amount of product produced per unit time. In addition, the fact that these robots are designed to work continuously and continuously contributes to operational efficiency by minimizing break time and enabling 24/7 operation.

These robots can work integrated with different industrial automation systems. In this way, they can increase the automation rate in industrial production facilities such as factories, minimizing human intervention and thus reducing costs while increasing employee safety.

Size Advantage

Delta industrial robots are small and have a small footprint compared to many industrial robots. This makes them ideal for working in workspaces with limited space. Their small footprint also allows more robots to be deployed in industrial production facilities, thus increasing production capacity.

The design of these robots also makes it possible to minimize their travel distances. Thus, robots use less space while performing their tasks and industrial efficiency is increased.

If you have question marks in your mind about which industrial robot will be the right choice for your production process, you can find detailed information on the subject in our article “Delta Robot and Scara Robot: Which One Should I Choose?”.

Delta Robot Types

As an important part of industrial automation, delta robots are used in industrial production processes that require high speed and precision. These robots come in three different types: parallel, serial and hybrid.

Parallel Delta Robot

Parallel robots are widely used in industrial automation. They usually consist of three or more arms. The arms of these robots are parallel to each other and are used to perform operations such as assembly, packaging and palletizing with the use of an end-affector.

The working principle of these parallel robots is based on the simultaneous use of the arms. This allows the robot to move quickly. The arms are usually actuated by linear actuators or motors.

Although the kinematic structure of parallel robots gives it a speed advantage, it can make assembly and maintenance difficult. In some cases, the range of motion can be limited and the design process can be complicated. But when utilized correctly, these robots can be considered as the most important parts of industrial automation.

Series Delta Robot

Series delta robots are another type of robot widely used in industrial automation. These robots consist of a series of interconnected arms. Since each arm is connected to the previous arm, they are highly preferred in processes such as packaging and assembly.

The interconnectedness of the arms in this type of robots leads to chain motion. Thanks to the chain motion, these robots can perform successive movements. Thanks to their simple kinematic structure, they offer the advantage of low cost and easy integration and are preferred in many different industrial areas.

One of the biggest disadvantages of serial robots is their lower range of motion and response times compared to parallel robots. In addition, since these robots need to move their arms sequentially to perform certain movements, they can increase the processing time.

Hybrid Delta Robot

A hybrid robot is a subtype of delta robots, which can be considered an indispensable part of industrial automation. They can be summarized as a combination of parallel and serial robots. Thus, they combine the advantages of both robot types and stand out as the ideal robot type for processes that require high speed, flexibility and precision.

The working principles of hybrid robots include a combination of series and parallel robots. One part of such robots can be in parallel and the other part in series. In this way, the same robot can perform different operations at the same time.

The advantages of these robots include flexibility and versatility. Thanks to these features, hybrid robots can adapt to different applications and processes, combining the advantages and disadvantages of parallel and serial robots. They can utilize their parallel structure for fast and precise operations, while they can utilize their serial structure for simpler operations.

Hybrid robots also have various disadvantages. The most important of these is that the design and integration processes are complex and difficult. Some technical difficulties can be encountered in the integration of parallel and serial robots. However, if the integration is achieved correctly, hybrid robots can be a flexible and efficient part of industrial automation.

Future of Delta Robots

Many predictions are made by experts in the field about how delta robots will take shape in the future. It is an indisputable fact that robots will become smarter and more adaptable in the future with artificial intelligence, machine learning and sensor technologies. This will increase the efficiency to be obtained from robots and thus cause them to find a wider usage area in industrial applications.

In addition, with the spread of concepts such as Industry 4.0 and IoT (Internet of Things), these robots will become more connected, which will increase data sharing in industrial production facilities and pave the way for robots to communicate with each other much more easily.