Elite Robotics – Dare to take on the challenge of completing 100,000 tests in 3 seconds?

In this case, our client in South China was a leading professional organization that provided testing services to manufacturers of sanitary and appliance components. In recent years, in order to improve service quality and work efficiency, customers have introduced automated equipment and robots to establish efficient, flexible and reliable testing processes and working mechanisms.

01 Background

Prior to the deployment of cobots, the customer had already introduced automated equipment to replace the manual work in the product life testing part. Automation was introduced to streamline personnel and increase efficiency – fatigue and human error pose a risk to safety and product yield during testing. As a result, the customer has been focusing on "replacing people with equipment or machines" at some of the low value-added workstations. The goal is to continuously improve the efficiency, flexibility and reliability of inspections and services.

02 Challenge

As the level of automation increased, customers found that some processes needed to be automated and upgraded. For example, a customer once designed a mechanism for a switch test station: a three-axis device, consisting of a motor and a module, which was used in conjunction with a manipulator to pick, place and test the workpieces. However, the manipulator needs to move the workpiece to a certain position in order to test the top, and the rotation path of the top handle is a curved arc. Therefore, the structure of a single motor and manipulator cannot solve all these problems, and it is difficult to meet the needs of users in actual use.

Elite Robotics – Dare to take on the challenge of completing 100,000 tests in 3 seconds?

solution

Finally, the integrator recommended a cobot with a flexible gripper. With flexible joints and a compact form factor, these products can work with the operator without safety fences, separate existing workstations, and allow for multi-angle installation in limited space. Especially compared to traditional industrial robots, cobots can be easily programmed. This is a plus for the customer – as a professional testing organization, they need flexible equipment to meet their multi-category testing needs.

As a result, the EC66 (6kg load) cobot solves all three existing problems for the customer: First, the problem of bending and rotating. Each joint of the 6-joint cobot supports ± 360° rotation, which is basically equivalent to working in a spherical space with no dead ends. With this in mind, engineers don't need to focus too much on accessibility when programming. Second, point locations can be quickly edited with a simple drag-and-drop on the cobot. The trajectory is smooth, and the robot can switch smoothly like an operator. Third, the robot can be easily programmed, disassembled, and flexibly deployed to different locations to meet the requirements of small batches, multiple varieties, and quick replacement. Users can program, debug, and operate robots in an easier way.

"It takes 3 seconds to perform a switch test, and for a single sample, we need to test 100,000 times. This kind of work is certainly not possible to be done by manpower. The customer said that "machines instead of people" has become a major trend in factory automation upgrades, and only by choosing the right robot solution for specific scenarios can we give full play to the advantages of different robots. With the continuous development of cobot technology and the deployment of cobots in a wider range of scenarios, automation is no longer limited to standardized products and high-volume production. "The automated production line can also produce and inspect a wide range of customized products in small batches. We are confident in the future of ELITE Robots. ”

Elite Robotics – Dare to take on the challenge of completing 100,000 tests in 3 seconds?

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