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Core Technologies

Robotic Simulation Applications

Robotic Simulation has a wide range of application in the manufacturing sector. From simple material handling to complex welding and press room operations, robotic simulation has proved to be a valuable tool to validate robotic operations. Click on the links to see application specific video demonstrations.

Material Handling

Material handling applications happen to be the bulk of automated operations you will find in almost any manufacturing facility. Validation of material handling operations prior to equipment purchase or installation helps by minimizing risk of errors, improper equipment configuration, collisions, reach issues and other potential roadblocks. Some of the more common material handling tasks that can benefit from simulation can be seen below.

Palletizing

Palletizing is a more unique use of the material handling area of Robotics. Palletizing allows for parts to be stacked in to shipping pallets or containers by the robot. Typically the robot gets its parts from a conveyor or a machine and places the parts into the pallet. Once the pallet or container is full the robot can also move an empty pallet or container into position to again start filling the pallet. Through the use of simulation many loading options, stack patterns and container types can be quickly studied to see the feasibility of the loading process.

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Machine Tending

Utilizing a robot to tend your machinery will allow you to increase production efficiency. Robotic machine tending allows your system to run continuously with less human interaction. Machine tending simulation provides advance design and planning advantages. The robot's end of arm tooling can potentially be designed to hold multiple parts at various stages of production, allowing for faster part transfer. Part buffering between machines running different cycle times can be determined to stream line your system. Vision applications can also be integrated to allow for part inspection needs where applicable.

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Robotic Welding

Resistance Spot Welding

Spot welding simulations focus specifically on determining the optimal path of a weld gun, often through an array of support tooling, to achieve a collision free, efficient path. Considerations of parameters such as robot speed, motion type, and rounding can be optimized in simulation and downloaded directly into most robot controllers.

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Arc Welding

Product assembly through Arc or MIG welding provides another opportunity to take advantage of robotic simulations to verify torch clearances and robot reach. Coordinated motion can also be mimicked between MIG welding robots and various part positional systems. The simulations can then be used to provide feedback on design concerns, cycle time analysis as well as offline robotic programming.

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Dispense Applications

Applying sealant or adhesive solutions to parts can be a tricky to accomplish. Without simulating the sealant process, the likelihood of running into problems is very high. The product needs to be positioned in unorthodox orientations so the sealant can be applied properly. This can cause reach problems with the robot and also collision problems between the product and the surrounding equipment. Robotic simulation allows for path optimization and testing and helps provide answers to questions related to robot position, height of the sealant stand, fencing surrounding the robot, and the speed through the path can all be simulated off-line.

Two of the common dispense configurations that can be simulated are shown in the example videos.

Carried dispense
Pedestal dispense

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Robotic Vision Applications

Robotic vision guidance and inspection systems are finding ever increasing application in the manufacturing sector. For robot guidance using vision, robotic simulation is a great tool to identify camera locations, validation of end-effectors with cameras, and general vision process validation. For inspection applications, robotic simulation can help identify the features that can be inspected by the robot Vs the number of features that need to be inspected using fixed cameras. These are commonly known as FMS or Flexible Measurement Systems. Simulation is a powerful tool to cut camera costs and ensure that the system is lean.

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Special Applications

Stamping and Press Room Applications

Press rooms and stamping operations are unique from the perspective of high speed cycle time requirements and flexibility. Robotic simulations are used to optimize the complete system performance of de-stacking operations, press to press part transfer, and various end of line racking systems. The simulations can also be used to integrate new product into existing lines and provide feedback such as payload analysis, tool change operations, cycle time analysis, safety considerations, maintenance considerations as well as offline programming of the robots.

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Die Casting Applications

Die Casting is a common operation in foundries. Because of the intense heat that is produced in casting, extracting the work piece with a robot is ideal. Robotic extraction however carries with it challenges best addressed prior to installation. Using simulation software, the proper robot can be selected and a collision free extraction path can be produced. After the extraction, additional jobs for the robot can be added as it waits for the next work piece. These additional jobs must sync with the timing of the die press so that the product will not sit idle and cool in the die. We can fine-tune these processes so that the extraction is timed correctly and robot time is not wasted resulting in a lean and efficient robotic process.

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Robot Swaps

Do you have old robots in your plant that need to be replaced with new models? Simulation can be used to analyze and support robot model changes in existing manufacturing lines. The current process is modeled in simulation and actual programs are uploaded from running robots on the floor. This allows for rapid change out of different robot models letting manufacturers analyze their capabilities. Downloaded programs from simulation reduce setup time of new robots with existing robot processes.

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