Importance of reducer to domestic robots-Fubao Mechanical

Reducer, also known as "robot joint", is the core transmission component of high-end automation equipment represented by industrial robots. On the road of the rise of domestic robots, the industrialization and automation of reducers are very important.

Facing the high labor cost and the unique accuracy and efficiency of robots, China became the largest robot market in the world in 2013, and the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and other manufacturing areas entered a "new era of robots". Guarding the largest robot market, domestic robots have not been able to get the moon first, and domestic robots only account for about 5% of the domestic market share.

The bottleneck that puzzles the healthy development of China's robot industry is that the three core components, namely reducer, AC/DC servo motor and controller, cannot be self-sufficient.

Of course, domestic enterprises are high-spirited in achieving the goal of self-sufficiency in core components, and have also made many achievements:

The robot consists of three systems, namely, control system, servo system and transmission system. The RV reducer in the transmission system is the joint of the robot, just like the gearbox of the car, which controls the power output and operation accuracy of the robot, accounting for 33% of the cost of a robot. Robot joint reducer requires short transmission chain, small volume, high power, light weight and easy control. In general, a universal robot needs 4-8 sets of reducers.

According to the data provided by China Robotics Alliance, in the next 10 years, China's industrial robot market will reach 600 billion yuan, and an industrial robot needs 4-8 joint reducers, and the market of robot reducers alone will exceed 100 billion yuan. An industry insider said that if a general robot is equipped with 4.5 sets of reducers, the new demand for reducers in China's industrial robots will reach 189,000 sets, 236,000 sets, 296,000 sets, 369,000 sets and 462,000 sets respectively from 2014 to 2018.

Although the domestic demand for robot reducers is huge, the domestic market is still occupied by foreign brands, especially Japanese manufacturers. 75% of the global precision reducer market is monopolized by Japan, and only a few domestic products are put on the market. According to the statistics of GRII, up to now, the number of domestic robot enterprises has exceeded 420, but only 13 of them have studied reducers, and only 5 have made initial progress in RV reducers. At present, the research and development is still in a difficult process.

The reducer is the highest single component, and a joint and an action need a reducer to support it. Planetary reducer, RV precision cycloidal reducer and harmonic reducer are the main reducers of robots at present. The drive system requires small gap, high rigidity, high output torque and large reduction ratio. Therefore, it is inevitable to adopt planetary row cylindrical spiral gear transmission mechanism or cycloidal gear transmission mechanism combined with planetary row. However, the machining accuracy of key components such as gears, cycloidal gears, especially internal gear rings cannot be completely guaranteed in China, and mass production cannot be formed yet. At present, it can only rely heavily on imports, which seriously restricts the independent market demand, which directly leads to the reducer being the most important factor for the high cost of domestic industrial robots.
　　
Therefore, as far as the current situation is concerned. Providing large-scale and reliable precision reducer components is the top priority of robot industrialization and autonomy in China.
　　
RV reducer has been monopolized by Japanese and other foreign companies for a long time, which has led to the robot industry in China being controlled by people. The RV high-precision reducer for developing robots has been listed as a key research topic by the national "863" plan. With the increasing support of major special projects such as the national "Robot Joint Reducer Production Line", the continuous investment in R&D of enterprises, the localization and autonomy of robot parts, and the substantial reduction of costs and pricing, the era of large-scale application of industrial robots in China can be expected.