The latest robot innovation gives students hands-on experience for careers in modern manufacturing.
At the upcoming 2024 IMTS Smartforce Student Summit in Chicago, Kawasaki Robotics will premiere its educational robotics platform for use by industrial/technical education providers. Called Astorino, these robots will enable educators to equip students with real-world skills needed for the future of American manufacturing.
“We launch the Astorino with a clear goal: to advance industrial robotics education,” said Paul Marcovecchio, Director – General Industries, Kawasaki Robotics (USA), Inc. “With this new cost-effective and dynamic robotic platform, we eliminate many barriers to entry that have kept educators from providing advanced robotics design tools to their students.”
Astorino, named for Kawasaki Robotics’ development partner ASTOR, enters the educational market at a lower cost than competitors while offering the capabilities of modern industrial robots. It leverages Kawasaki Robotics’ technology expertise with a 1kg payload, 6-axis robot with a structure and programming environment nearly identical to that of a Kawasaki industrial robot.
Powered by a 110V outlet, the robot is adaptable to any classroom environment. Its base price of $5000 makes it affordable to educators, providing a low student-to-equipment ratio enabling each student to spend more time directly working with the robots.
An interactive learning approach bolsters knowledge retention, while also providing a comprehensive view of robotic systems. Students of all levels are then prepared for real-world application environments.
“Not only do we provide state-of-the-art robots, tools and training to our customers, but Astorino is further proof of our commitment to helping prepare the next-generation of technicians, operators and engineers,” Marcovecchio said. “With Astorino and our extensive training resources, like-minded educators can take their teaching to a higher, more interactive level as they prepare the next generation of workers.”
The Kawasaki Robotics’ educational robots premiering at the 2024 Summit leverage the company’s extensive technology expertise for hardware, firmware, control systems, and application software as well as training. It also prepares students of all levels for real-world application environments while sparking their interest in the field.
The IMTS Smartforce Student Summit is being held in Chicago from September 9th through the 14th.
