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With no standard cobot solution for press break tending being available in the UK, TROX were faced with the task of finding an integrator capable of designing and developing this new revolutionary solution with them. After conducting a through market research of available cobots, TROX chose to invest in a Universal Robot due to its length of time in the market and range of applications it can be used for.
Recognising that their staff were integral to the success of the project, the TROX leadership team engaged with their staff members prior to and during the project to ensure everyone was fully onboard with the automation plans. They even ran a competition to name the cobot, which was eventually named after one of their own press brake operators with 40 years’ service.
TROX approached Olympus Technologies to discuss the project and despite Olympus having no experience in robotic press brake tending, their 30+ years of experience in other automation applications gave TROX the confidence that together they could achieve their ambitions.
The end solution designed and developed by Olympus Technologies consisted of the Universal Robot UR10e integrated to fully control TROX’s Trumpf TruBend 7050 press brake machine, with a custom designed pneumatic Scorpion gripper and bespoke software providing effortless control for the operators.
The Scorpion gripper incorporated both multi-circuit pneumatic and extendable pinch gripping technologies, with the gripper reconfigurable for larger and smaller parts. It also featured an integrated rotational cylinder which allowed parts to be quickly reorientated during the press brake process saving both programming and operational time. Alongside a high-resolution distance sensor which allows the robot to keep track of infeed part stacks, accurately measuring components as thin as 500 microns.
Finally, with the robot mounted on a mobile trolley and a single cable to connect/disconnect to the press brake machine, operators can effortlessly move the robot to be used in other parts of the factory, leaving the press brake machine available for manual operation of smaller batch parts at any time.
The integration of our Cobot Press Brake Tending Solution provided impressive benefits to TROX:
An adaptable solution allowing for customer driven flexibility. Trox staff have designed, manufactured and implemented additional grippers for smaller ranges of parts without ongoing support from the integrator.
Greater benefits from smaller batch sizes than TROX originally anticipated.
One valuable staff member now available to undertake higher skilled tasks.
At present, TROX staff have fully programmed 39 parts, with programming time significantly shortened by using the custom programming template designed by Olympus.