Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Simple to use and affordable to buy, OB7-Stretch is the fourth model of Productive Robotics, Inc.’s (Carpinteria, CA) next-generation teachable collaborative robots (cobots), and it’s designed with a longer reach to handle parts and machines with longer distances. Similar to the standard OB7 5kg model, it has a longer reach of 1.25 meters and a slightly lower payload of 4kg.

“We have many customer’s applications that need a bit more reach, but have lighter payload needs,” says Zac Bogart, president of Productive Robotics. “OB7-Stretch was designed for those applications.”

Applications that require a longer reach to pick up a part or reaching deeper into machines will benefit, particularly in those in plastics molding, packaging, and palletizing. In CNC machine tending, OB7-Stretch can tend multiple machines at one time when the robot needs to reach more than one machine, and when the robot needs to reach deeply into a machine.

While Productive Robotics has two larger models with longer reaches, OB7-Max 12 (12kg and 1.3 meter reach) and OB7-Max 8 (8kg payload and 1.7 meter reach), OB7-Stretch is a cost-effective alternative to the higher payload and reach robots – it’s priced the same as the standard OB7 model ((5kg payload and 1 meter reach).

“We’ve had a lot of requests for a reasonably priced collaborative robot with a longer reach than is available on the market.  OB7-Stretch is that product,” says Bogart.

All the OB7 robot models are built with seven-axis capabilities –  like a human arm, seven joints give OB7 the flexibility and dexterity to reach around objects or obstacles where others can’t. But unlike a human arm, each of OB7’s joints can rotate 360 degrees in both directions allowing the cobot to work in more confined workspaces and areas that a six-axis robot can’t reach.

OB7s feature a “no programming,” simple, teaching platform – the user simply shows OB7 how to do the job and OB7 learns.