End of arm tooling (EOAT) is a crucial aspect of robotic technology. It refers to the equipment that interacts with parts and components, typically at the end of a robotic arm. For example, the welding torch on a robotic welding system.

The EOAT gives a robot a specific functionality and can be changed to fit different applications or even be built to accommodate several processes at once. Either way, advancements in EOAT capabilities are parallel to advancements in robotic capabilities.

What Kinds of Applications Has Advanced EOAT Enabled?

Random bin picking, where a robot picks and places a variety of part sizes and shapes from a bin, has emerged as a mainstream application. While vision systems have certainly played a large role in making this application possible, so has EOAT.

For random bin picking, EOAT needs to be extremely flexible with the ability to effectively pick and place several different types of parts. This provides numerous advantages for manufacturers, as the only alternative is to have a robotic system for every type of part that needs handled.

Read the entire article in Robotics.org here.