Robotics

The Machine Tending System

The Machine Tending System is an efficient way to maximize part production, while using very little space on the shop floor, and delivers superior configurability and flexibility in a platform that is totally self-contained.

For this system to work, an operator is only needed to select a recipe on the platform HMI, which contains program settings specific to the part selected, and to load raw parts into drawers. A robot does the rest. Taking a raw part from the first available drawer, the robot loads it into a nearby machine for processing. Then, it goes back to retrieve the next raw part and load it into the machine, while the machine is running, maximizing efficiency. Once the part is finished, the robot removes it from the machine and places it back in the drawer. The cycle continues until the drawer is completely filled with finished parts, the drawer is closed, and restarts when the robot moves onto the next available drawer.

The advantage to the design of this system is the ability of the operator to load or unload any drawer, not being used by the robot, without stopping the robot. Production never has to stop.