Collaborative robotic servicing of CNC machining machines

There are many options in the industry for automatic servicing of CNC machines that require high safety requirements and / or high installation costs. Many solutions become economical if the right amount of production volume is put on the machine.

Production volume is distinguished by:

custom production, which means the production of one or a maximum of a couple of products and its recurrence does not recur within 1-2 years
repetitive production, within which we distinguish two subtypes, in which case we can speak when the production of the product occurs regularly (mass production) or in large quantities (mass production).

In Hungary, many companies deal with cutting tasks, either for the production of their own components or for the customer's needs in the supply chain. In many cases, series production occurs, but it is not the number and quantity of pieces that would be profitable in the case of automation. These are mostly small to medium series production volumes.

There are several solutions on the market for workpiece replacement automation, which can be palletized and robotic.

In the case of pallet replacement, the pallet is replaced by the CNC machine after the workpiece has been fixed, if the program arrives at this part. Pallet changer systems, even for larger products with multiple machining processes on different machines, can operate economically, ensuring a single view.

In the case of robot workpiece replacement, we can talk about portal robotic service, which is implemented with the control of a driven linear axis, and articulated arm (humanoid) robots. We also distinguish between industrial and collaborative robotic service between articulated robots.

In the case of industrial robot service, we have to reckon with a large production volume due to the expectation of economical operation. In the absence of this, it would be mostly uneconomical to operate. Of course, there are cases where personal protection overrides this. Thus, in the case of servicing an industrial robotic CNC machine, the requirements for the cell and production are the existence of a large series or mass production volume, and the creation of an industrial robotic environment, which can be realized using a protective grille and additional safety elements. need.

The use of a collaborative robot for CNC machine service is also possible for the service of 10-16 kg products (robot load capacity without gripper) in the product range of Universal Robots. In the case of collaborative robots, we cannot talk about achieving the known speeds of movement in the case of industrial robots, which is perhaps the other disadvantage besides load capacity.

Universal Robots used 3 main aspects in the design of the robot, which are common to small and medium-sized enterprises and companies with small and medium production volumes, which are:

Easy installation, flexible applicability: the robot's mounting and installation process is designed to be clear to everyone after a short online tutorial. The installation takes a minimum of 1-2 hours, after which we can start using the machine.
Easy programmability: avoids the complicated programming interface and language of industrial robots, so robot programming can be easily mastered in 1-2 days without any robot programming knowledge, which means that programming is much simpler and more transparent than most robots on the market.
Collaborative applicability: creating an environment where the robot and operator can work together without the installation of additional safety features, thus avoiding the use of fenced areas.

Robotic CNC service with Universal Robots can be a worthwhile investment in a short time for small and medium series, but also for large series and mass production, as we can create an environment in which the robot can you can operate the machine even without operator service. An industrial robot programmer is not required to program the robot, and a short time (1-2 days) is enough to learn how to use the interface, even without the robot programmer's prior knowledge. Its application must be thought of in the same way as a CNC program, the robot calls the program for the given product, which in the optimal case can also call the CNC program for the product. The program can be started by providing the prefabrication for the "cell".

Below is a concept plan and a video of the application of a robotic server of a CNC machine we have installed, which can be customized for your machine if you are interested. If you are interested, please contact us at the link below.

Megyesi Dániel