Posted to News on 26th Apr 2013, 13:06
Affordable robot demonstrates machine loading and unloading
The Northern Regional College in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, is much more than just a seat of learning. This award-winning campus is a centre of manufacturing excellence and its expertise and resources are available to industry at large, especially in the field of CAD/CAM, robotics and general automation. And in early March, the College hosted a joint presentation on affordable robotics by automation experts from R. A. Rodriguez and Universal Robots.
A common perception of robots is that they are big, expensive and clunky, but as seminar delegates discovered, there is a notable exception. The Universal Robot is a low-cost robotic arm that can be applied to a variety of tasks thanks to its easy manoeuvrability and uncomplicated programming. Installation can be accomplished in under an hour and the device can often be used without safety guarding.
On campus, the UR10 Universal Robot was shown loading aluminium billets, 50mm × 100mm, into a CNC lathe. Once the machining cycle had been completed, the robot unloaded the finished component and placed it in a pre-defined slot on a palletiser tray. It then reloaded the chuck with a fresh billet. As the door on the lathe had no automatic closure, the UR10 was also programmed to close the door after the chuck was loaded and push the start button to activate the machining cycle.
The seminar also featured a pick and place application with two networked machines; a standard UR5 Universal Robot was connected to IEF Werner linear axis with PA control.
As well as representing Universal Robots in UK, R. A. Rodriguez is the UK's sole distributor for linear motion company, IEF Werner. Its profiLINE linear modules were chosen for this demonstration, elements that are popular for their high load stability, repeating accuracy and ability to be freely combined to create bespoke automation systems, off-the-shelf.
Andrew Mason, Automation Manager at R. A. Rodriguez, confirmed: "The NRC event was a great success. The Universal Robot really lends itself to hands-on demonstration as it is so quick and easy to set-up. So the message is; if anyone wants to see a Universal Robot in action, it can be done on-site and in the space of just a few hours."
For more information about affordable robotics and the Universal Robot, please visit www.rarodriguez.co.uk.
