ABB Robotics introduced two industrial robots IRB 1700 and IRB 1700ID
English translation from Unibot. Source published 2026-10-22.
ABB Robotics is expanding its line of industrial robots. The two new compact models - IRB 1700 and IRB 1700ID - operate with shorter cycle times than comparable products on the market. The difference reaches 20 percent.
Why are new models needed?
Craig McDonnell, managing director of industrial solutions at ABB Robotics, says: “Precision manufacturing in electronics, automotive and other industries requires producing more while maintaining quality and reducing costs. The IRB 1700 family meets these challenges with new levels of speed, accuracy, reliability and energy efficiency. It gives manufacturers and system integrators a flexible platform for high-performance automation.”
Features and savings
Five options with payloads from 6 to 12 kg. Control is on OmniCore controllers.
Productivity is higher: the cycle is up to 20 percent shorter. Less downtime, lower costs: energy consumption drops by up to 15 percent and service intervals reach 20,000 hours between oil changes.
Path repeatability is up to 0.03 mm. The speed of the joints is up to 700 degrees per second. All this makes robots suitable for fast, precise tasks: material handling, arc welding, deburring, grinding, machine tending.
New applications in electronics
There are also new applications in electronics - assembling racks for AI servers. The demand for such servers and computing is growing rapidly.
Compact and Integrated Dressing design
The base area of the new product is 50 percent smaller than its predecessor. And the IRB 1700ID model has a proprietary Integrated Dressing (ID) design: cables and hoses are routed inside the robot's arm. Installation in industrial environments is simpler and the layout is more efficient.
Portfolio and software
The IRB 1700 family continues ABB Robotics' mechatronics portfolio and line of autonomous versatile robots (AVRs). Software access is expanding: RobotStudio, AI Robot Trainer, OmniCore EyeMotion, automatic collision-free path planning.
Public debut at CIIF
The IRB 1700 and IRB 1700ID made their public debut at the recent China International Industry Fair (CIIF) in Shanghai. The booth showed fully working arc welding and grinding applications.