Companies producing Robot-Like Systems (RLS) must increase efficiency in design and production in order to stay competitive in the international market. Such RLS range from small SCARA robots to entire production facilities. Very different systems for similar tasks are published in research or offered in the market. A clear path to an optimal configuration for a given task is apparently not available to the engineer. This indicates that the drives of such RLS and their integration with automation technology are still insufficiently researched, and their efficient design poses significant challenges for the industry. This paper identifies and provides a concise overview of requirements and challenges in the context of drives for such RLS. Building on this overview, suggestions are made for the future course of action in research.     «

Companies producing Robot-Like Systems (RLS) must increase efficiency in design and production in order to stay competitive in the international market. Such RLS range from small SCARA robots to entire production facilities. Very different systems for similar tasks are published in research or offered in the market. A clear path to an optimal configuration for a given task is apparently not available to the engineer. This indicates that the drives of such RLS and their integration with automatio...     »