Industrial robots are blind, deaf and insensitive. They show a characteristic of an inelastic and stiff behaviour without any environment feedback.
Due to this characteristic, in case of physical contact, high forces occur. These may cause damage on workpiece, robot equipment or humans. However, common industrial automation has achieved high-cost reduction in the past years. This achievement has almost exclusively been applicable for big lot-sizes and clearly defined tasks. Applications with a high demand on sensitivity and flexibility are tricky gaps in automation. Therefore they often still remain as manual work in the manufacturing process and cause un-ergonomic workplaces, quality issues, higher abrasive costs, etc. which result in higher production costs than necessary. This applies specially to surface treatment processes like sanding, grinding, deburring, or polishing.
North America has witnessed its economic upwind during the last years. The touch-sensitive automation solutions from FerRobotics, initiate again an incredible growth potential for US manufacturers across all industries. Healthy industries keep the economy going.
But manufacturers face tremendous challenges, since labour costs tend to increase, skilled and reliable workforce is harder to find, product quality is expected to rise while prices are expected to go down.
Sanding, grinding, and deburring are highly undesirable and hazardous 3-D jobs. To automate these quality-related sequences is the undisputed key competence of the FerRobotics automation experts. Together with our customers, we create high synergies such as increase of productivity, quality, and flexibility, optimized functionality and efficiency. What differentiates FerRobotics from other players in the market is the outstanding technology. While automation usually tends to come along with costly investments and programming efforts, FerRobotics innovative products stick out as “worry-free“ package with short payback time. The originally Austrian robotics trendsetter, wraps “automation in no time“ into intuitive standard devices with easy usage and easy process modification, to keep production sites flexible and competitive.
The wiser gives in
Traditional robotics has taken a giant leap in performing productivity and quality in multifarious production environments on surface finishing. However, the industrial standard in robot programming is position driven, reference point by reference point.
Random surfaces with random reference points require heavy programming and are economically not viable. Hence, the inelastic behaviour of traditional robotics has high lacks on sensitivity and physical compliance, which in turn leaves tricky automation gaps to solve.
FerRobotics’ approach to robotics automation is completely different. The key parameter of the process is the actual contact situation. Therefore, FerRobotics system checks if there is a contact, tracks the surface and individually applies the necessary force autonomously. “Within a robot path, our equipment compensates for positioning tolerances and masterminds the contact precision without programming it point by point,”
The perfect feeling
FerRobotics robot devices feel what they are doing. Our robot equipment guides the tool or gripper as carefully as would the human hand. The technology detects counterforces, changes in the surface flow, obstacles and nestles into the process autonomously. The equipment performs self-operations, thus adjusting to individual process situations and environment conditions in real-time.
About the Author:
Michael Haas has a sophisticated technical background in mechanical engineering completed with profound international sales skills. In the role of the Vice President of FerRobotics INC, Michael is leading the North American operations. With his extraordinary expertise he fully supports the ambitious FerRobotics customer network in the automotive, aerospace and general industry on the challenges of flexible automation. Since 2015 Michael is the FerRobotics US expert in sensitive automation. Prior to that, he worked as a leading sales expert and was in charge of contract management and distributor development activities in the European, middle and far east market.