Robots made for the plastics workforce boast an array of new and improved features, from refined communications capabilities to greater flexibility. Offerings on display at recent trade shows have included a new cobot from Denso Robotics, as well as new modules for specific applications, such as tightening screws or working with CNC machines.
DENSO
It can bear a maximum load of 1.1 pounds. Its total arm length is about 13.5 inches.
The main unit weighs 8.8 pounds, making it easy to move.
Currently, it uses cameras from Canon, but a Denso spokesman said the Cobotta will eventually be offered with an option to use any brand of camera.
Denso said the Cobotta comes with two easy-to-use teaching programs — direct teaching or graphical-user interface, also known as GUI. The arm can be moved in a free or Cartesian mode.
Sensors are built into all six of the cobot’s moving parts to monitor speed and torque.
An integrated controller reduces external wiring, and Denso said it is easy to configure the controller so that it can communicate with other devices. The control runs on open-source code, so operators can create their own applications.
Peter Cavallo, Denso’s senior manager for robotics, said the Cobatta sells for less than $20,000.
UNIVERSAL ROBOTS
Universal Robots has collaborated with Versa- Built Robotics, Boise, Idaho, on an interface that enables its robots to communicate directly with Haas CNC machines. The technology can be used by both mold makers and plastics processors.
Universal Robots marketing manager Joe Campbell said interfaces for other CNC brands will be released later this year.
With the $395 kit, which consists of interface cables and software on a USB drive, in-house engineers no longer have to create an interface from scratch — a process that can be time-consuming.
Campbell said VersaBuilt’s CNC Communication URCap interface is a simple but powerful tool for CNC users. It allows a Universal Robotics cobot to execute any machining program stored on the CNC directly through the cobot’s own teach pendant.
URCap maintains all Haas safety functions.
The new interface was released last month ATX West. It is expected to be available soon through the UR+ showroom.
VersaBuilt Robotics helps machine shops automate the production of parts of all shapes and sizes in turning and milling applications.
Universal Robots also showed a cobot- controlled screw-driving application built in collaboration with Visumatic.
The VCM-3X.2 Collaborative Screw Driving Package communicates with a screw-driver control that handles a wide range of screw-driving feeds and routines, all through the robot’s teach pendant.
The VCM-3X.2 is bundled with pre-programmed fault recovery logic and Visumatic’s power bit advance, bit position sensors and fastener delivery confirmation.
HYROBOTICS
The H5 has five-axis servo motors, four articulated axes and one Cartesian axis.
The robot features a 7.5-inch touch-screen control unit and comes ready to use with any injection molding machine that has an SPI, Euromap 12 or Euromap 67 robot interface.
The robot was introduced to the market last month; one has been installed in the U.S. at a television manufacturing plant.
The company said it is aimed at large injection molded parts for the electronics and automotive industries.
ABSOLUTE ROBOT INC. (ARI)
ARI is rolling out a safety feature called safe torque off (STO) that allows operators to more quickly stop or start the robot when they need to enter or exit its safety enclosure.
With STO, when someone activates the request-to-enter button on the safety enclosure, the robot immediately goes to a designated stopping point. When the person exits, the robot picks up where it left off, without requiring a reboot.
The software is connected to the door of the safety enclosure.
“The biggest thing we heard in the marketplace was the need to be able to go inside the enclosure without stopping the robot,” said Tim Lavigne, business unit manager at ARI. “We think this product improvement gives us a complete package.”
The new feature is being rolled out on all ARI full-servo robots in 2019. There is no additional cost. It cannot be retrofitted to older robots.
WITTMANN BATTENFELD
Wittmann Battenfeld has introduced a compact, rotational A-C servo axis for several of its robots. The technology is designed for injection molding applications that involve small mold openings.
The slim version can lift 33 pounds, compared with the standard version’s 66-pound maximum load. But the new servo axis is about 25 percent shorter and about 20 percent thinner.
It debuted at Fakuma in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
The unit is only 5 inches thick, compared with 7 inches for the standard unit.
The company said the new component will be used mostly on injection molding presses with clamping forces ranging from 165 tons to 550 tons.
It will be available for Wittmann’s W822, W832 pro and W843 pro robots, as well as WX robots with model numbers ranging from 142 to 153.
Ron Shinn, editor
Contact:
Absolute Robot Inc., Worcester, Mass., 508-792-4305, www.absoluterobot.com
Denso International America, Southfield, Mich., 248-350-7500, www.densocorp-na.com
HYRobotics Corp., St. Louis, 314-574-5777, www.hyrobotics.com
Universal Robots USA Inc., Boston, 844-462-6268, www.universal-robots.com
Visumatic Industrial Products, Lexington, Ky., 859-255-7907, www.visumatic.com
Wittmann Battenfeld Inc., Torrington, Conn., 860-496-9603, www.wittmann-group.com
About the Author
Ron Shinn
Editor
Editor Ron Shinn is a co-founder of Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing and has been covering the plastics industry for more than 35 years. He leads the editorial team, directs coverage and sets the editorial calendar. He also writes features, including the Talking Points column and On the Factory Floor, and covers recycling and sustainability for PMM and Plastics Recycling.