Ceiling Robot Arms at Home: ABB Gantry Lessons

A Tokyo startup hangs two robot arms from the ceiling to do chores. ABB's IRB 6620LX gantry robot and GoFa cobot show how overhead arms work in practice.

INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS

Chat With Robot

9/25/20261 min read

In March 1956, a Seattle photographer caught a woman at work in a new all-electric kitchen. The oven, range and fridge were modern, but every pot and plate still moved by hand. A year later Disneyland opened Monsanto's plastic House of the Future, full of push-button gadgets and still without anyone to fold the laundry.

Black and white photo of a woman standing at the counter of a 1950s kitchen with built-in oven
Black and white photo of a woman standing at the counter of a 1950s kitchen with built-in oven

A woman at work in a new electric kitchen in Seattle, March 1956. Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Factories solved the reach problem first by going overhead. Gantry robots ride steel rails above palletizing lines and carry loads from station to station, which leaves the floor free for conveyors and people.

Black and white photo of a futuristic white plastic house raised above a rock garden with visitors
Black and white photo of a futuristic white plastic house raised above a rock garden with visitors

Visitors outside Monsanto's plastic House of the Future at Disneyland, 1958. Photo: Orange County Archives / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

This month in Tokyo, the startup MW showed the same idea in a home. Two arms with claw-like hands ride ceiling rails to whichever room calls them. In the demo they sorted soy sauce from things that belong in the fridge and folded a hand towel, though a T-shirt beat them. MW is aiming for a 2028 debut.

Overhead gantry robot with a gripper above stacks of green plastic crates on conveyors
Overhead gantry robot with a gripper above stacks of green plastic crates on conveyors

A gantry robot stacking crates above a palletizing line. Photo: Tecnowey / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

ABB has built this layout for industry for years. Its IRB 6620LX hangs a robot arm from a linear gantry that works as the robot's first axis, and the arm can be mounted upside down or sideways. It carries 150 kg, and the rail can run up to 33 metres.

Two ABB robots hanging from a long overhead rail above a row of CNC machines in a factory
Two ABB robots hanging from a long overhead rail above a row of CNC machines in a factory

ABB IRB 6620LX robots on an overhead rail tending CNC machines at DAU Componentes, Spain. Photo: ABB

At DAU Componentes in Burgos, Spain, two IRB 6620LX robots run along overhead rails, each loading a line of four CNC machines and leaving the space in front of them open. A home arm also needs a gentler side, which is where ABB's GoFa cobot comes in. It senses contact through its joints and can be taught by hand.

White ABB robot arm mounted on an overhead gantry above fenced machine stations
White ABB robot arm mounted on an overhead gantry above fenced machine stations

An IRB 6620LX arm reaching down from its gantry at DAU Componentes. Photo: ABB

I think ceiling rails suit a home better than a humanoid stepping around the dog, though the software still has a long way to go. Sorting a pantry works already. T-shirts, spills and a toddler's toys will keep these arms learning for a while before MW gets anywhere near its goal of 10,000 robotic homes a year by 2035.

Woman holding and guiding a white ABB GoFa cobot arm over a table with boxes
Woman holding and guiding a white ABB GoFa cobot arm over a table with boxes

Teaching an ABB GoFa cobot by guiding it by hand. Photo: ABB

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