FANUC and Yaskawa Motoman are two of the top robotic manufacturers in the world. Both robotic companies feature an extensive selection of industrial robots including those designed for general purpose needs. The FANUC M Series and the Yaskawa Motoman GP Series both feature a wide variety of multipurpose industrial robots. FANUC’s M Series has been around longer but also features some newer articulated robots with their updated technology. The FANUC M robot manipulators also contain multiple sub-series including the spider robots, M-10, M-6, M-710, and M-900 among many others. The GP Series is the latest line of general purpose robots from Yaskawa Motoman. The series is not as extensive as the FANUC M Series but still offers a good variety of industrial robot arms.
Robot Types
The FANUC M Series consists of delta robots and articulated robot types. The FANUC M-1ia, M-2ia, and M-3ia are the delta robots of the series and part of the FANUC spider robot sub-series. Each delta robot features multiple variants as well. The rest of the M robots are articulated robots.The Yaskawa Motoman GP factory robots are all designed with the articulated robot structure. While the GP robots do not vary in terms of robot type, there are three shelf-mounted options. The GP165R, GP200R, and the GP400R are designed specifically for shelf mounting which saves floorspace and allows for better part access.
Axis Configurations
The FANUC M Series mainly consists of 6 axis robots which allow for a full range of motion in order to automate most manufacturing processes. However, there are some five and four axis robots in the series as well. The FANUC M-410ib/140H is a five axis M Series robot. Four and five axis robots are ideal for automating more simple processes that may require more rigid movements such as robotic palletizing.The GP Series industrial robotic arms all feature 6 axes except for the GP110B which has seven axes. The extra axis provides an enhanced range of motion for obstacle avoidance and easier part access.
Payload
Payloads start at extremely light for the M Series and go up to incredibly heavy. Payloads range from 1 kg to 2300 kg for the FANUC M Series robots. The FANUC M-2000ia/2300 is one of the heavy payload robots.The payload range for the GP Series is not as extensive as the FANUC M Series. Payloads start at 4 kg and go up to 600 kg. This still allows for the automation of light and heavy applications as well as everything in between.