Kinova Gen2 Robotic Arm

The Kinova Gen2 is a modular robotic arm that is designed for rapid, cost-effective, and safe automation of professional applications. It represents a flexible, precise, and accessible plug-and-play machine. A lightweight design and easy integration make the Gen2 a perfect device for a wide range of operations in such spheres as research, education, and manufacturing. Designed for efficiency, portability, and reliability, the Kinova Gen2 robot can be easily moved between several projects and meet the needs of different industries.

Available in three configurations, the Kinova Gen2 can be matched to your preferences. The options include either six or seven degrees of freedom, with a traditional or spherical wrist for the 6 DoF version (the 7 DoF one comes with a spherical wrist by default). The spherical wrist allows you to decouple the translation and rotation parts of the inverse kinematics solution, while the traditional wrist, also called angled wrist, has no pinch point. Generally, researchers and innovators prefer the spherical wrist since it simplifies mathematical operations.

For a more advanced or a smaller robotic arm suited for professional academic-level educational needs, check out the Gen3 and Gen3 Lite models from Kinova’s ultra-lightweight robot series.

Being a compact yet powerful solution with an excellent payload-to-weight ratio, Kinova’s Gen2 robotic arm possesses a long reach coupled with a payload sufficient for the majority of precise lightweight tasks. Alongside decent speed and repeatability, the machine provides intuitive controls and multifunctional interface enabled by Kinova SDK. With various quick-to-learn control options, such as joystick and hand teaching, the Gen2 is ideal both for beginners and experienced users looking for robotic automation opportunities.

The Kinova Gen2 boasts inherent safety by design: default velocity limits ensure that in the event of a collision, the robot would not harm a person. Due to simple deployment as well as support for manual control and programming languages such as C++, the Gen2 is perfect for effective and harmonious work alongside or instead of people of various professions and skills.

The Kinova Gen2 robotic arm combines a lightweight, ergonomic, and flexible design, long reach, and intuitive yet multifaceted controls, which makes it ideal for a broad range of tasks. The Gen2 robot can efficiently handle dynamic grasping, dexterous assembly, haptics, mobile manipulation, and more.

Specifications:

• Processing quality
• Applications
• Working range
• Robot controls and software
• Look and feel
• Price

Processing quality

The Kinova Gen2 robotic arm possesses high reliability coupled with professional accuracy. It features 6 / 7 degrees of freedom with the actuator joint range of up to ±27.7 turns and is able to reach a movement speed of 20 cm/s. In combination with 2.6 / 2.4 kg continuous payload (depending on the version, 6 DoF / 7 DoF respectively), this lets the robot perform an ample range of lightweight precision tasks with ease.

Due to IPX2 ingress protection, the Kinova Gen2 robotic arm can operate in environments with minimal exposure to water droplets falling at up to 15 degrees from vertical, making them suitable for basic indoor industrial applications where light water spray or dripping may occur. Moreover, the robot is fully operational from -10 to 40 °C.

Applications

Thanks to its embedded controller, small footprint, lightweight construction, and low power consumption, the Kinova Gen2 robotic arm can adapt to a variety of spheres implying precise, repetitive tasks. Rapid deployment, compact dimensions, high precision, and exceptional payload-to-weight ratio make the Gen2 model ideal for a number of mobile robotics applications.

For example, see how the Kinova Gen2 robotic arm was used to pollinate artificial plants during a greenhouse inspection:

The reasonable implementation of the Kinova Gen2 robotic arm allows one to automate manifold research and manufacturing processes, save time, and significantly reduce labor costs. Thanks to the Gen2 robot, one can move their employees to value-added tasks for improved efficiency across any factory, workshop, or lab.

Working range

The Kinova Gen2 robotic arm features six- or seven-axis movement (depending on the configuration chosen) and possesses a maximum reach of up to 985 mm in combination with a flexible and lightweight joint body. Its ergonomic design with a small footprint diameter enables rapid deployment without the need to alter layout of a designated area.

Robot controls and software

The Kinova Gen2 robotic arm can be quickly connected to its controller base representing a compact yet powerful unit with multiple connectivity options. Without messy cable management and bulky control boxes, the Kinova Gen2 robot allows for quick and easy integration into existing workflows and research processes.

Powered by the self-developed Kinova SDK (Software Development Kit), the Gen2 robotic arm has been designed to reduce deployment time and costs by offering an intuitive and user-friendly experience. One can start working with the robot quickly using various teaching modes or APIs allowing low-level and high-level control options. It is possible to effectively communicate with the Gen2 model through ROS and advanced programming in C++ environments.

For further user convenience, the Gen2 robotic arm provides intuitive manual hand-guiding mechanics and trajectory planning making for fast and easy task preparation. Thus, the operator of any skill level can simply drag the Gen2 robot to desired positions and teach it necessary functions.

Credit: @philippennen8830 / YouTube

Another of the key control methods for the Kinova Gen2 robot is with a joystick offering two high-level control modes: Cartesian and angular.

Look and feel

The Kinova Gen2 robotic arm is available in black with white trimmings. With its stylish and futuristic look, Kinova’s Gen2 robot will decorate any factory, workshop, lab, etc.

The Gen2 model offers a durable modular construction and flexible lightweight design. It weighs only 11.5 / 13.7 lbs (5.2 / 6.2 kg) depending on the version (6 or 7 degrees of freedom respectively).

Price

To learn the current price of the Kinova Gen2 robotic arm, click the "request the quote" button and fill in the form. We will contact you as soon as possible and send you all the details.