Created Date: April 2nd, 2020

- Power range: 100-240 VAC, 50-60 Hz, single phase

1) Before connecting the robot to any plug on the electrical power system of your factory, room or laboratory, it is recommended to use a stable voltage line or connect a stabilizer or/and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The need to stabilize and regulate the input voltage in the equipment is to protect the energy input going to the robot's power supply and control board, we recommend using the stabilizer or/and the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) because as the robot is powered by voltage between 100-240VAC, we know that many factories and their electrical power grid have variations or blackouts in their energy distribution, so to avoid any risk of voltage spikes or electrical drops, we strongly advise (in case the robot is connected directly to the power grid) the use of a stabilizer or/and UPS.

1.1) Which one should I use? If your power grid hardly drops, has black outs or it has generators, only the stabilizer for up to 1000W is enough for you. In case of constant drops that can shut down the robot, we advise the use of the “UPS” up to 1000W, the UPS needs to have stabilizer included as well, most of the stabilizes have an internal battery that keeps the robot on for at least until the end of the cycle before the same disconnects power for the robot. 

1.2) My robot is not directly connected to the electrical grid on an outlet, I am using an electrical panel, what should I do? If the robot is being powered directly by an electrical panel, make sure that it has 100-240VAC power directed to the robot controller, and that it has a protective fuse or circuit breaker in case of spikes or power outages that can protect the robot from any unstable electricity.

2) How to connect the phases to supply the robot? All Universal Robots cobots are powered by a single-phase 100-240VAC voltage, so be very careful when defining how to design or connect the robots to your electrical grid. Normally, the distribution from factories and companies for machines and equipment is three-phase 380-440V so, BE CAREFUL, you must convert in this case, so that the robot receives SINGLE PHASE between 100 to 240V at its input. Do not exceed or connect voltage values higher than specified, doing so may damage equipment and the warranty will be voided. Make sure you are getting correct voltage in the input before connecting to the robot.

3) Should I ground the robot? Yes, definitely! Make sure that the grounding pin is connected to the corrected pin of the outlet, or if it’s connected at all, this makes the potential difference or current leakage interferences from other equipment not influence in the functioning of the robots. Always ensure that the ground pin of the robot controller socket or electrical power panel is connected to earth. If you are not sure that your factory will have the grounding correctly arriving at the outlet, make sure the robot controller has a grounding in the housing to ensure that no disturbances/interferences will occur due to the influence of other machines and current noise and short circuits.

4) Can I use an external power supply (24V) to feed the digital inputs and outputs terminals inside the robot's control panel? Yes, on UR cobots you have the option of using the factory default power input (24V) for the Input and Output terminals of the robot control box with maximum of 2A (using this option, equipment using IOs can only consume a total maximum of 2A) , or supply via an external 24V source with maximum of 6A (using this option, equipment using IOs can consume a maximum of 6A). To power externally, just remove the jumper that factory default, comes in the control box (see image below) and supply the positive and negative of the external 24V source inside the robot's control panel. ATTENTION: If the source is turned off, the robot will generate a power failure error, so the source must always be connected to the robot or remain connected. Another detail for attention is that using the default robot 24V IO feeding, once the robot enters in fault or emergency mode, all power to IOs will be off, if using an external power to IO’s terminal, then if the robot enters in emergency or fault mode and the external power supply keeps on, the IOs will still be on.

Note that the pictures in this article are only for reference, the actual UPS should match the application setup and local power grid. For more information or other doubts please go to Download sections and download our User and Service manual or open a MyUR ticket for support.