Technical data:

• What was needed: a robotic system for the sports and health sector that promotes fitness, strength, balance and walking speed in a playful and motivating way
• Requirements: 100% freedom from lubrication and maintenance, dust and dirt resistance, robustness, durability, quiet
• Products used: dryspin® trapezoidal screw drives, iglidur® plain bearings, drylin® shafts and profile guides, igus® energy chains
• Success for the customer: "The igus® components used are quiet, clean, lubrication-free and maintenance-free and we have been using them for more than ten years - and without any complaints. The decision to rely on igus® is based not only on the excellent products, but also on the high level of commitment. The people in charge at igus® were always very committed, interested, customer-oriented, and ready to try out new things, and constantly tried to find a solution together with us. This impressed us from the very beginning, and I can say today that the cooperation is truly exemplary. I am already looking forward to the next ten years", concludes Raja Dravid.

Problem

The training robots are self-learning systems that adapt to the specific needs, fitness level and progress of each user. The training experience is completely digitised and cloud-based. "The original idea was to simulate the interaction of humans with their environment. 80-year-old people can easily jump over a garden fence in our simulation. They can't do that in the real world. ddrobotec promotes physical and cognitive fitness in a fun and motivating way, and there is nothing like it in the world", states Raja Dravid, CDO of ddrobotec. The core of the soft-robotic training robot is a pneumatic muscle, which generates this variable force and dynamics on the two pedals. High-precision sensors and real-time visual feedback enable accurate measurement of coordination, strength, quickness and endurance. Another important point for the quality of the "made in Switzerland" training robots is a maintenance-free and absolutely safe system. [...] "At first I was a little sceptical about replacing our bronze nuts, metal ball bearing guides and brass parts with plastic components. [...]" says Raja Dravid. 

Solution

A solution was sought for the plain bearings - without oil and constant lubrication - as dirt, dust and contaminants constantly collected here. [...] "We then replaced more and more plain bearings and nuts with igus components. This even went so far that we made design changes so that we could switch the entire bearing technology to igus® products", says Raja Dravid. A decisive advantage is that the igus® products not only work without maintenance and lubrication, but are also robust and durable. In both training robots, lead screws, shafts, energy chains and linear guides from igus are used in addition to the aforementioned plain bearings and lead screw nuts. [...] Two lead screw systems with a linear guide are used for seat adjustment and for an additional safety feature. "In the drylin® W profile guides, the rails are made of hard-anodised aluminium, which ensures the best friction and wear results for profile guides. The lack of lubrication makes the profile guide system extremely insensitive to dirt and its cleanliness also makes it suitable for applications in clean and hygienic environments such as in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities," explains Axel Ebert.

dryspin® trapezoidal lead screw

dryspin® trapezoidal lead screw nut

iglidur® plain bearings

igus® energy chains

drylin® shafts

drylin® W profile guides

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