Verified user
Aug 24, 2023
Period
- 2020
Testimonial
The robot was used to load a machine with several stations from a pallet of parts and unload the stations to a pallet again. The programming of the robot was easy, the apps were not optimized for speed so the execution speed was low mainly as the loading of different apps took a long time. The price is very low leading to a first ROI for the robot.
Verified user
Feb 9, 2023
Period
- 2021
Title
Easy to use robotic platform for research
Pro
This robot is pretty affordable, which is a great plus for academic labs. Overall, the user is provided with a good selection of material for a variety of different applications. The robot is pretty popular, so you can find also help from other users online.
Con
I don't like much the fact that the robot is not as solid as other competitors. The price is increased in the last few years.
Antonio Manuele
Università di Pisa
Jan 29, 2023
Period
- 2021
Title
.I used this robot for visual based control applications with a RealSense camera, and realized integrating MATLAB code with ROS (Robot Operating System). It was used with a soft hand as end-effector.
Pro
It has 7 degree of freedom. It is a robot for applications that require a lot of accuracy. It has a lot of support.
Con
A bit expensive. It can be some problems with medium-high load applications.
Francesco Lombardi
New grad
Jan 24, 2023
Period
- 2021
Title
I used this robot to perform a pick and place task in the context of industrial applications. The robot was equipped with a camera, programmed to recognize a moving object on a conveyor belt and perform the pick and place operation.
Pro
It is safe and robust, easy to use with a user-friendly GUI. The buttons located on the robot let the user easily move it. A desired pose can be saved. It can communicate with ROS and Gazebo but it is also compatible with software like Matlab and Simulink.
Con
It has a low payload that limits its use to simple operations or manipulation of light objects.
Sofia Faraci
Università di Pisa
Jan 22, 2023
Period
- 2022
Title
This robot has been used for a Teaching by Demonstration learning system applied to robotic manipulators. The manipulator needed to be moved Kinesthetically or using teleoperation equipment in order for the user to demonstrate a manipulation task. The algorithm was implemented in ROS using C++. The Franka Emika Panda Robot was the optimal choice for this project. The robot can be controlled using its C++ library libfranka and integrated into ROS thanks to the franka_ros package.
Pro
The Franka Emika Panda Robot is easy to use.
Its documentation is comprehensive and accurately written.
A user can kinesthetically move the robot through the joystick on the robot end-effector.
Its libfranka library for C++ is open source.
It has a ROS package.
It has a user-friendly GUI.
Con
It's an expensive robot.
Verified user
Jan 18, 2023
Period
- 2019
Title
pick and application for food industry. We were trying to automate the task of picking food cans and ordering them in cartoon box. The problem was that automating the task with the user interface. We wanted to add our proper software for cans detection and connect several type of robots but this was not possible at that time. The second problem was the sensitivity of torque detection safety function. the robot was failing to pick the cans because it detects torque.
Pro
* HMI and user interaction: the teach buttons at the end of the arm are very intuitive. having a button to open and close the griper was very helpful to quickly set up and test it. The end tool interface with a standard port to connect end effectors solved the problem of the long cables to power and control the end effector.
* High torque sensitivity: for collaborative application that needs a direct interaction. the torque function is also very helpful with teach mode where you can sense the assistance of the robot in this mode.
* The design: the design for 7 axis robot is very unique and attractive.
Con
* Low payload: the payload limit the range of application. some grippers already weight more than 3 kg.
*This robot is more useful for research that automation.
* Expensive
Giorgio Simonini
Research Centre E. Piaggio
Jan 13, 2023
Period
- 2022
Title
I used this robot for research purposes. In one work the goal was to limit interaction contact forces with the implementation of a custom controller in the ROS1 framework. In a second work, it had been used in a dynamic task following a throwing trajectory. The Franka architecture worked well and without big problems in both applications.
Pro
Can be controlled from ROS1 and via web interface easily. The ROS interface permits to feed directly the torques.
Cheap and well-documented, with a large community.
Well assembled, has good motor measures, a good internal model, and has torque sensors in the joints.
ROS2 implementation is under development
Con
ROS2 implementation is under development.
torque sensors are noisy.
Not so powerful (the version used had 3kg of payload).
Easily stops due to vibrations of high dynamical tasks.
Paolo Bonifati
University of Pisa
Dec 14, 2022
Period
- 2022
Title
A 7 DOF robot suitable for academic and scientific uses, especially for manipulation tasks
Pro
This 7 Degrees of Freedom robot is perfect for human-robot collaborative tasks, and can be integrated with different types of grippers. Franka Emika Panda provides a low-level control library for C++. Additionally, it is compatible with Ros, Gazebo, and other programs like Matlab. The GUI is user-friendly and well-organized, and it offers the ability to carry out basic manipulation operations using a pre-compiled controller.
Con
For more intricate manipulation tasks, the payload is definitely insufficient (just 3 Kg). It is extremely sensitive to communication faults, and if the trajectory is not very smooth, it frequently pauses for safety concerns. To exploit the C++ API, a real-time kernel with a Linux system is required.
Marco Baracca
University of Pisa
Nov 21, 2022
Period
- 2022
Title
Good platform for research and academic purposes, especially for testing planning algorithm
Pro
It is a 7 DoF manipulator with a simply user interface. It can be programmed using Franka Desk web app, using the function blocks proposed to compose the required task or through custom algorithms using ROS. Franka proposes a large set of controllers and it allows also impedance controllers, for safe interaction with the environment.
Con
The main drawback of this platform is the low payload (3 kg) which limits the possible tasks mainly to simple pick & place or manipulation of lightweight object. To use the robot through ROS it will be required a real-time linux kernel and it requires a communication rate of 1kHz.
Alessandro Palleschi
University of Pisa
Oct 30, 2022
Period
- 2022
Title
A great solution for research and testing of advanced collaborative planning algorithm
Pro
It's a 7 DoF robot with a nice and simple user interface, that offers C++ API and a ROS wrapper with a large set of standard controllers already implemented. It also allows commanding directly the torques of the joints, which is really useful when implementing impedance controllers for compliant interaction with the environment. You can also quickly program the robot using the Franka DESK web app, and you can also use buttons on the robot to save the desired way-points.
Con
The payload is probably not enough for more complex pick-and-place and manipulation applications (just 3 Kg). If you want to use the C++ API it requires a real-time patch for you linux kernel. It is really sensible to communication errors, and it often stops for safety reasons if the trajectory is not super smooth.
Gloria Bianco
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
Oct 27, 2022
Period
- 2022
Title
I used Franka Robot in combination with a soft wris to implement a Planning and control method to pick objects in a narrow space. The whole system has 9DoF and I've also managed the system redundancy
Pro
It's very easy to combine it with other robot. Also for beginners is immediate to use it. The installation procedure is well explained on Franka Emika Panda official website. The design seems very friendly and the mouvements are smooth
Con
In my experence I didn't find any, but my work focused only on one specific application
fahd berguiga
erm automatismes
May 31, 2022
Period
- 2022
Title
The most customisable robot in the world
Pro
First of all i like the fact that this robot is a 7 axis robot. So, we can access a very hard position with it. Also, the fact that we can develop our instructions blocks with ride cli makes it very powerfull. We can also use it for research purpose with the 1KHZ (FCI interface) and to develop many applications using ROS. I also like the fact that with the buttons on the flange we can do a simple program of picking in 5 minutes.And, finally i like the user interface of this robot which is very easy to use.
Con
First, i dislike the fact that for this robot we don't have any documentation for security. So, if you want to install it on an industriel middle you have to purchase the Franka security module. Also, it will be so great to have an offline simulator and an online one to create and test programs with and without the robot. The limitation of the communication protocols is alwso one of my dislikes on this robot.
Antonello Scaldaferri
University of Pisa
May 29, 2022
Period
- 2021
Title
Excellent cobot for research and academic purposes. Good for practicing with manipulators.
Pro
Safe and robust.
It can be easily used with other frameworks.
High degree of adaptability.
Con
I would't use it for real world applications.
It is a bit bulky.
It is difficult to combine it with other robots for a more complex system.
William Ernst
N/A
Jul 12, 2021
Period
Title
Great collaborative robot with focus on ease of task development
Pro
Its very easy and quick to program tasks. You can manually move the arm for recording locations and very easy to use block style programing interface that anyone would be able to understand and program. For simple tasks, you could have it working 1-2 days after receiving it but for my use case it took longer due to creating a custom interface to control the Panda rather than using the given one.
Con
It required working with Franka's support team(which were very helpful) in order to run the panda from alternate software rather than the original.
Maria Mendoza
BFH
May 18, 2021
Period
Title
Academic use
Pro
This robot interface is friendly and easy to use. It was easy to understand, and you could get easy movements in a short time.
Con
There could be some improvements when programming cycles.
Manoj Biswanath
ankhlabs
May 6, 2021
Period
Title
Smooth, robust and good for reaearch work. Can learn a lot interdisciplinary stuff.
Pro
Panda is well integrated with MoveIt platform and has well developed low level controllers which makes its interface quite easy. Fast in real time with very high working frequency. Possibility to implement in multiple disciplines such as robot learning, vision, control and automation. Other interfaces including visual servoing, ROS.
Con
Slightly expensive
Henrique Nunes Poleselo
Ford
May 5, 2021
Period
Title
Panda is great for research
Pro
Panda offers a C++ low-level control library, letting you to tweak with the PID parameters and doing visual servoing, for instance, which is a great point. Futhermore (in my case), there was also an interface to use with Python and ROS, which was great, because one can actually use it with MoveIt! Making path planning easy.
Con
I wouldn't say anything