Robotic machine maintenance can boost output and enhance the workplace. However, costly vision systems and strict safety standards may make investments in the well-liked application more difficult. The pros and cons of robotic machine tending are highlighted in this article.
Pros
A robot watching over a machine, such as a CNC robot machine, is referred to as “machine tending.” A robot loads and unloads the parts as the machine works on them in a typical application for machine tending.
Machine maintenance lowers the possibility of injury
Machine maintenance contributes to the safety of the factory floor. The risk of damage is greatly reduced by utilizing a robot instead of a person to feed a machine with material or parts.
The robot may be designed to slow down if an employee approaches the cell, significantly reducing the possibility of harm.
Additionally, it spares workers from the tiresome operation of loading and unloading, giving them time to concentrate on more fruitful duties. This increases the value for the business and motivates workers to advance their skill sets.
Being a machine operator can increase output.
Robotic machine tending increases speed and decreases part cycle time (the amount of time required to complete one piece).
In most cases, there are just a few seconds’ worth of difference when compared to a human operator, but over the course of weeks and months, this can result in a significant increase in overall productivity.
Especially considering that a robot can continuously operate for weeks on end. The robot may also work unsupervised for a few hours after the typical workday ends, increasing capacity without the need for additional operators.
Other applications for the robot exist beyond loading and unloading
In a machine tending application, the robot’s default function is to simply transport the material from point A (such as a bin) to point B (such as a CNC machine).
However, some of the robots used for machine tending applications are frequently cobots (collaborative robots), meaning they have a degree of flexibility that allows them to be utilized for other activities in the factory, such finishing applications.
Depending on the product’s fragility, robots are frequently faster and more reliable than human employees at performing activities like polishing, sanding, deburring, etc.
More than one machine can be tended by robots.
A robot can simultaneously tend numerous machines if the appropriate mounting is used, such as a rail, floor, or ceiling installation (also known as parallel machine tending).
The robot can load and unload parts onto both machines by intelligently positioning itself above or between them.
The robot might even be able to fit inside the machine if it’s big enough. In any event, reducing movement between operations and saving space on the factory floor are potential benefits of all those solutions.
Cons
Sometimes vision systems, which can be very expensive, are required for machine maintenance.
The cost of using a robot is significant and includes the robot itself as well as maintenance fees, tools specific to the kind of materials fed into the machine, and occasionally the requirement for a vision system. Such a mechanism is essential to determining whether the machine has successfully processed the material.
A vision system is optional but preferred if the robot picks up pieces that are fixed in place since it can identify and eliminate subpar items before they are processed further.
A visual system is necessary if the robot must pick up parts that are jumbled together, though. Vision systems can cost up to $50,000, greatly increasing the cost of the investment.
Robots could struggle to handle various materials.
The robot may not be able to grasp all those parts effectively if it is operating many machines or if various parts, materials, and forms are being used. As a result, every time, the robot needs to be equipped with new grippers.
To address this issue, all of them could be mounted and the robot’s end-effector could simply be rotated to bring the appropriate tool forward and ready for grasping.
CE marking and machine maintenance
Every machine must have a CE mark before it can be marketed in the EU, under EU regulations.
This entails doing a risk analysis, creating an instruction manual, and creating additional documentation attesting to the compliance with all safety regulations. For machines outside of the EU, the same regulations apply.
Now, in addition to the individual risk assessment of each new machine, a fresh evaluation based on the application must be made if two new machines are integrated or built (for example, a machine tending robot and a CNC machine).
Naturally, this complicates everything. Things become significantly more difficult when parallel machine tending is involved.
Conclusion
A worthwhile automation strategy for your manufacturing floor may be machine tending. It can increase production and free workers from tiresome tasks. However, certain difficulties like issues with CE marking or a pricey vision system could make this investment more difficult.
