Comparison between RV Reducers and Harmonic Gearboxes

In our daily lives and work, various types of machinery can be seen everywhere. People may only know that they are high-tech products, but they may not realize that almost all machinery cannot operate properly without a component called a gearbox. So, what is a gearbox? Simply put, a gearbox is an intermediate mechanism that connects the power source and the actuator, playing a role in matching speeds and transmitting torque.

Based on control precision, gearboxes can be divided into general-purpose gearboxes and precision gearboxes. General-purpose gearboxes have lower control precision but can meet the basic power transmission needs of machinery. Precision gearboxes, on the other hand, have small backlash, higher precision, longer service life, and are more reliable and stable. They are applied in high-end fields such as robotics, CNC machine tools, and medical equipment.

There are various types of precision gearboxes, including harmonic gearboxes, RV gearboxes, cycloidal pinwheel planetary gearboxes, and precision planetary gearboxes. In recent years, with the rapid development of intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment fields such as industrial robots and high-end CNC machine tools, harmonic gearboxes and RV gearboxes have become widely used precision gearboxes in the high-precision transmission field.

Today, we want to focus on introducing these two precision gearboxes. We believe that most of you have some understanding of the differences and advantages between them. Below is a comparison made by our editor from the aspects of technical characteristics, product performance, application scenarios, and end-use industries, allowing you to have a fresh understanding of RV gearboxes and harmonic gearboxes.

Comparison between RV Gearboxes and Harmonic Gearboxes:

1. Technical Characteristics

RV Gearboxes: Transmission is achieved through multi-stage reduction, usually composed of the front stage of a planetary gear reducer and the rear stage of a cycloidal pinwheel reducer, with more components.

Harmonic Gearboxes: Motion is transmitted through the elastic deformation of the flexspline, mainly composed of the flexspline, rigid spline, and wave generator. Compared to RV and other precision gearboxes, harmonic gearboxes have significantly reduced material usage, volume, and weight.

2. Product Performance

RV Gearboxes: Large volume, high load capacity, and high rigidity.

Harmonic Gearboxes: Small volume, high transmission ratio, and high precision.

3. Application Scenarios

RV Gearboxes: Generally used in heavy-load positions of multi-joint robots, such as robot bases, upper arms, and shoulders.

Harmonic Gearboxes: Mainly used in the lower arms, wrists, or hands of robots.

4. End-use Industries

RV Gearboxes: Typically used in industries such as automotive, transportation, and ports, where heavy-load robots equipped with RV gearboxes are commonly used.

Harmonic Gearboxes: Usually used in industries such as 3C (computers, communication, and consumer electronics), semiconductor, food, injection molding, molds, and medical equipment, where robots with loads below 30kg and composed of harmonic gearboxes are commonly used.