Case Study: Motoman reduces boom weight, increases payload and saves development time with ANSYS DesignSpace

ANSYS DesignSpace Helps Leading Robotics Company Reduce Weight Save Time

Motoman, a leading robotics company, needed a lighter, stiffer boom and riser for its new MotoSweep O overhead transport to mount 6‑axis robots and service multiple machines while freeing floor space. The team faced objectives to increase reach and payload, reduce mass and base mounting requirements, and eliminate backlash in the main drive assembly. To meet these challenges Motoman used ANSYS DesignSpace for structural modeling and analysis.

Using ANSYS DesignSpace, Motoman optimized the boom geometry and designed a dampening roller/top‑plate system to reduce backlash, cut mass, and shrink base requirements. The MotoSweep O now supports a UP50 (550 kg) robot with a 50 kg payload at a 2 m radius—doubling the payload and robot mass capacity versus the previous UP20—and improved settling time from about 1.5 seconds to under 1 second. ANSYS DesignSpace also reduced hand calculations, eliminated much trial‑and‑error and prototyping, lowered material cost, and enabled testing of multiple design alternatives.

Motoman

Gary Schutte

Senior Mechanical Engineer