China has produced the first robot for tire manufacturing.
The “Dragon Gate,” produced by Qingdao Kinger Robot Company Limited, looks like a huge gate from the side.
“This technology, which will thoroughly overturn the tire manufacturing industry, not only fills in the gap in China but also reaches an internationally advanced level,” said anexpert from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.
A tire usually weighs between 30 jin and 50 jin (1 jin = 500g). In a traditional tire factory, a worker can move 4 tons to 5 tons of tires a day.
With the Dragon Gate robot, the unmanned production of tires can be realized.
The Dragon Gate robot can load up to 1 tons of tires, equivalent to tires of nine heavy trucks. Its arms span up to 13 meters. Its walking speed can reach 3.5 meters a second. When consolidating tires, it can be 100 percent accurate. It saves labor force by about 90 percent.
The Dragon Gate robot is made of a type of composite material, which is only one fifth of steel in weight while four times of steel in strength.
The robot also first brought the laser ranging technology used in aerospace into the industrial robot manufacturing.
As the first of its kind in China, the Dragon Gate robot narrows the gap between China’s production technology R&D and tire-manufacturing equipment and those of western countries.
China is the world’s largest tire maker. Some 50 percent of China’s tires are made in Shandong province, east China.
