Universal Robots helps Toyota reduce costs and increase efficiency

Universal Robots and Toyota have a long-standing relationship, and as a global partner, Universal Robots can be found busy at Toyota's plants and subsidiaries around the world.

background

Toyota's Hokkaido plant mainly produces transmissions, axles, and other parts for Toyota, and "improving production efficiency" is an important goal. The company had always wanted to automate the differential pinion (round gear) loading process, which had been a challenge in the past.

challenge

During the feeding of the differential pinion into the machine, the operator lifts a string rod with multiple differential pinions, places it on its side on the conveyor, and the workpiece is automatically fed into the machine under its own weight. In the past, every time the shape of the workpiece changed, the corresponding conveyor equipment had to be modified accordingly, and the strung workpieces weighed 2 to 3 kg, placing a heavy burden on the operator, who had to work carefully so as not to damage the workpiece.

Universal Robots helps Toyota reduce costs and increase efficiency

The operator manually picks up a string of workpieces and feeds them into the processing equipment.

solution

Junichi Isobe, head of the engineering department at Toyota's Hokkaido plant, said: "With the goal of 'improving productivity', we wanted to make current production more efficient, so our dealer recommended Universal Robots to us. We saw the growing popularity of collaborative robots at the International Robot Show in December 2019 and the Robot Show in Tokyo, Japan (ROBODEX) in January 2020, so we decided to challenge the problem with collaborative robots. ”

We first introduced cobots in 2021 with the challenge of keeping the cycle time within the stipulated time frame and finding a way to identify the workpiece. The use of a vision camera can timeout the production cycle time, which is difficult to detect because the workpiece is glossy black. For this reason, the dealer devised a solution that uses the built-in force-torque sensor (F/T sensor) of Universal Robots to detect the reaction force of the gripper when it touches the workpiece. After testing, Toyota adopted this scheme.

The built-in force and torque sensor (F/T sensor) of the Universal Robots detects the workpiece when the gripper touches the workpiece.

Syusaku Jin from the Parts Production Engineering Department said, "We decided to develop a system without a camera, which would simplify the system configuration. The OnRobot RG2/RG6 grippers are UR+ solutions that can be easily programmed on the UR cobot's teach pendant and the robot's built-in F/T sensor is easy to use.

Suguru Sakai, head of the parts production department in charge of the on-site work, also said, "Now, if we want to place the workpiece in the opposite direction or change the number of string rods, we only need to reprogram the robot. The robot also helps to check the thickness of the workpiece, which I find very convenient. "

In the past, each line corresponded to a material feeder, but now Universal Robots cobots can supply material to two lines simultaneously with a single robot. Whereas a new feeder was previously required every time a new model was added, it is now possible to adapt to the new model by simply modifying the robot programming, resulting in significant savings in investment costs. Toyota cars have installed a safety scanner on the robot as a safety measure, so that it will slow down whenever someone approaches and stop if someone hits it. As anomalies gradually decreased, the utilization rate increased from 92% to 98%. Syusaku Jin said, "It's nice to be able to operate the line in a very stable way. ”

　　In the past, each line corresponded to one material feeder, but now only one Universal Robots cobot is needed to supply material to both lines at the same time.

Jin continued, "The hardest part was the wiring work. I've never worked on this kind of cabling, so I thought this experience would be very useful when we install our next robot. It has even helped me improve my ability to draw electrical diagrams for other devices, even though those devices may not be robots. ”

Universal Robots cobots are also used on assembly lines. Here, the robot is mounted at the end of the conveyor belt of the assembly line made up of humans and is responsible for transferring the workpiece to the next conveyor belt. The advantage of this system is that even if the cobot fails, it can resume manual labor mode in time without having to stop the production line.

The UR10e works with the operator at the end of the conveyor belt

Of course, reducing system costs is one of the keys to "increasing productivity". However, beyond that, we can improve our own capabilities by participating in various projects. I believe this is a way to strengthen our manufacturing system. Isobe said.

In the end, Toyota's Hokkaido plant succeeded in building its own robotic system using Universal Robots cobots, reducing cost and space while increasing the operating rate from 92 percent to 98 percent compared to the old system. Toyota's Hokkaido plant expects to introduce Universal Robots cobots into various processes in the future.

Universal Robots helps Toyota reduce costs and increase efficiency

Sections viewed

Contact

working hours