ABB unveils human-friendly, dual-arm robot

ABB has unveiled YuMi, a human-friendly dual arm robot designed for a new era of automation, for example in small parts assembly, where people and robots work hand-in-hand on the same tasks. YuMi is short for ‘you and me’, working together. 

The robot has been developed to meet the production needs of the consumer electronics industry in the first instance. It will increasingly be rolled out to cover other market sectors. The robot’s soft, padded dual arms, combined with innovative force-sensing technology, ensure the safety of YuMi’s human co-workers. 

Capable of handling everything from the delicate and precise parts of a mechanical wristwatch to the components used in mobile phones, tablets and desktop PCs, YuMi performs with accuracy so great it can thread a needle.

“YuMi is going to change many of mankind’s assumptions about manufacturing and industrial processes,” said Pekka Tiitinen, Head of ABB’s Discrete Automation and Motion division. YuMi will be commercially launched on 13 April 2015 at the Hannover Messe in Germany, the world’s largest industrial technology fair.