Shipping Position

Before moving a robot via crane, forklift, or other means, it is important to move the robot into an appropriate pose. The ideal pose depends on both manipulator model and shipping method (e.g. forklift or crane).

The recommended shipping method for any given manipulator is contained in the manipulator’s manual. It is highly variable, so please use that as the primary reference for moving an arm.

This article just gives some general principles and a few examples.

Some of the criteria for a good shipping position are as follows:

• Low center of gravity
• Center of gravity over the base of the robot
• Minimize bounding box of robot
• Minimize moment of inertia
• Do not pinch cables
• Prevent links from colliding
• Avoid having axis positions near limit/hard stop

To stabilize and prevent damage, in many cases there are shipping brackets and cushioning materials with a manipulator’s initial shipment. Customers should save the brackets and cushioning for their robots so they can be reused when the manipulator needs to move in the future.

The first image shows how an NEX10 robot arrives from Japan on a pallet. This arm was transported to the floor via forklift.

The second image more clearly shows the pose of the robot after it has been unpacked but before the joints have been moved.

The third image shows a piece of cushioning material that is placed between the L axis and the conjunction of the U and R axis to prevent the robot arm from damaging itself.

Here are some screenshots from the HC20SDT manual. Note how different the shipping position is.

Here are some screenshots from the GP12 manual. Again, note the difference in pose.

Note how different the shipping configurations are between the NEX10, the HC20SDT, and the GP12

As mentioned earlier, the very most important thing is to look at the manual for your specific robot model. It includes exact instructions on how to ship the manipulator safely, sometimes including both shipping via pallet and shipping via crane.

Sometimes, the manual even specifies the target shipping joint position in degrees and in pulses.