igus strain wave gearbox

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In order to generate accurate movement along the 5th robot axis, igus has developed strain wave gears based on its tribo-polymer technology. Due to the use of lubrication-free polymers, they are compact and light, and also require very little maintenance.

The main components of the gearbox include a wave generator and a flexible ring with outer drive teeth, as well as an outer ring, fixed in place in the housing, and a rotary power take-off element with inner drive teeth. The wave generator has an elliptical shape, therefore the surrounding flexible ring also assumes this shape. The drive teeth of the flexible ring engage at two places in the inner drive teeth of the outer ring and power take-off element. As the outer ring has two teeth more than the other components, the flexible ring is only moved two teeth further per rotation when the wave generator is rotated. Along the last axis of an articulated arm, linear robot or delta robot, the strain wave gear can be used before different gripper systems. Here, it performs the task of gripping objects that are not rotationally symmetrical and positioning them exactly.

The current version is based on a NEMA 17 installation size for direct connection to a stepper motor and can be adapted to other types of motor. With a transmission ratio of 28:1, the gearbox has a service life of 1 million cycles under a load of 1.5 Nm and at a speed of 6 rpm.