Fully Electric Vacuum Pump Unit for Cobots Eliminates Need for Compressed Air

Piab Group describes its new piCOBOT pump unit as fully electric, with a slim design thanks to the absence of air-tubing and cabling. The pneumatically driven piCOBOT program was originally introduced in 2017, followed in 2022 by the larger, more powerful, piCOBOT L model. As part of the company’s product development last year, Piab’s engineers focused on a version that would perform on the same level as the original pneumatic piCOBOT vacuum pump, but without the need for compressed air.

The goal was to create a vacuum pump unit that remained small, with direct mounting on the cobot arm despite the electric drive. It also needed to be energy efficient, utilizing the electric current available from the cobot itself.

The absence of potentially entangling air tubing and cabling simplifies the installation, since the new piCOBOT Electric only requires a single connection on the cobot arm, while also allowing unrestricted movement. The new piCOBOT Electric package will contain plug and play software to fit UR e-series cobots, with additional adaptations to be introduced.