Lubrication- and maintenance-free components for the autonomous robo kitchen

• What was needed: various plain, articulated and linear bearings, energy chain for rotary and 3D movement
• Requirements: Free from external lubrication, low maintenance, long service life, cost-effective, short delivery times
• Industry: vending machinery

Eating out is becoming increasingly popular, but at the same time there is a shortage of staff who want to work in the catering industry. With its autonomous robotic kitchen (ARK), the Canadian start-up RoboEatz has an answer to this problem. In a unique kitchen cell, a robot prepares a wide variety of hot and cold meals in the shortest possible time and with consistent quality. The cell can prepare up to 70 dishes in an hour, clean itself automatically and refill the 50 ingredient containers with solid and liquid contents. Following the construction of several prototypes and two years of testing, RoboEatz is now entering series production.

Control the ingredient containers, tip a weighed quantity into the cooking pot or mixer and bring the finished dish to the customer ready to serve: There is a lot going on in the kitchen cell. And to ensure that this runs smoothly, cleanly and safely, the designers at RoboEatz were looking for energy supply, bearings and drive components that are suitable for food processing and do not require external lubrication. They were also looking for a long service life with simultaneous cost savings and the use of series parts with short delivery times. It was also important to the RoboEatz founders to work with as few suppliers as possible with a global presence.

The developers drew on the many years of robotics and automation expertise of igus®. A variety of motion plastics are used for the many different movements, which fulfil the requirements for durability, freedom from lubrication and cost savings. For example, dry-running igubal ® flange bearings and rod ends are responsible for the pivoting movement of the wok and the ingredient boxes and enable self-aligning. iglidur ® MCM clip bearings also serve as shaft guides in sheet metal connections. The linear movements of the individual axes, for example on the containers, are executed with drylin® linear technology. With the gripper, drylin® SLW linear modules ensure a safe design; the gripper arm opens and closes by means of a reverse spindle. With a rotation angle of 360° in the first axis of the robot, a reverse bend radius energy supply ensures a safe energy and signal supply. Finally, a triflex® energy chain with retraction system is mounted on the robot arm, which greatly increases the service life of the cable in three-dimensional movement.