RobotWare 6 affords manufacturers greater flexibility and reliability, with an extensive toolbox for developers and broad communications capabilities

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (February 3, 2015) - ABB Robotics has introduced RobotWare 6, the latest version of its robot controller software. The updated software affords manufacturers greater flexibility and reliability, with an extensive toolbox for developers and a broad range of communications capabilities. The enhancements improve the programming and control of robotic systems and equipment, without sacrificing ABBs unique brand of motion control and safety.

RobotWare 6 comes with improved installation features, including "Installation Manager," highlighted by a flexible application licensing mechanism for developers, and a new and intuitive user interface that vastly improves robot set-up time and system reconfiguration.

"ABB has always taken pride in the power and flexibility of its RAPID programming language," said Nick Hunt, product technology manager, ABB Robotics. "Now with the release of RobotWare 6, programmers have an even more impressive palette of RAPID design tools and sensor interface capabilities at their disposal."

Another new, powerful feature found in RobotWare is "Externally Guided Motion" (EGM), which, with the aid of external sensors, provides operators with more precise control over robot motion. The new functionality also allows integrators to further optimize cell design and production flows. The sensors provide the ability to input absolute positions, and to modify the robots path. Paths can be updated every four milliseconds with a controller lag of between eight to 20 milliseconds, depending on the type of robot.

With the RobotWare 6 upgrade, installation time is shorter, jogging is more responsive, and restarts are quicker, all combining to provide improved productivity.
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About ABB
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 150,000 people.

About ABB Robotics
ABB Robotics (www.abb.com/robotics) is a leading supplier of industrial robots - also providing
robot software, peripheral equipment, modular manufacturing cells and service for tasks such as welding, handling, assembly, painting and finishing, picking, packing, palletizing and machine tending. Key markets include automotive, plastics, metal fabrication, foundry, electronics, machine tools, pharmaceutical and food and beverage industries. A strong solutions focus helps manufacturers improve productivity, product quality and worker safety. ABB has installed more than 250,000 robots worldwide.