Assembly Planbook - June 2008 - (Page 50)

ASSEMBLY Robotics Robots Lend a Hand Thanks to better designs and controls, robots are being used to hold and position parts for processing by robots and other machines. hen I was a kid, I dreaded Saturdays when my father worked on his jalopy du jour. “I could use an extra pair of hands,” he’d ask cheerfully, but I knew this was doublespeak for “hold a work light for the next several hours and keep quiet.” As my arm grew numb keeping W Decades later, I can report that a young boy’s dream is closer to reality— at least for manufacturers of large assemblies. Until recently, robots have always been used to perform specific processes—welding, dispensing, screwdriving, painting or simply loading and unloading a machine. Now, a growing number of manufacturers are using robots like my father’s proverbial “extra pair of hands.” That is, they are using robots as flexible fixtures to hold and position parts while other robots or machines perform a process. The concept of robotic fixtures was originally developed by the automotive industry. As with most robotic innovations, the concept was originally developed by the automotive industry. To get lean and better match production to consumer demand, automakers need to produce multiple body styles on the same assembly line. However, hard tooling for each model is expensive. Moreover, swapping out tooling for each variant takes time, and time spent not producing vehicles is waste. To solve the problem, automakers began experimenting with flexible fixturing. In 1992, for example, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. (Tokyo) intro- The capabilities of fixturing robots are demonstrated in this cell for spot welding a side panel for a sport utility vehicle. Two six-axis fixturing robots are positioned in the middle of the cell, surrounded by four multiaxis servo locators and flanked by two six-axis robots. The first robot (right) picks up a panel and positions it atop the locators and above the fixturing robots, which reach up to grasp it. Once the first robot moves out of the way, the second (center, in the background) moves in to execute the welds. Photo courtesy Kawasaki Robotics (USA) Inc. By John Sprovieri Editor the lamp steady, my mind wandered. “Someday,” I thought. “Robots will do this job, and boys everywhere will be free to play ball with their buddies.” 50 ASSEMBLY / June 2008 www.assemblymag.com http://www.assemblymag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Assembly Planbook - June 2008

Assembly Planbook - June 2008 Contents Editorial Bonding Lines Quality in Assembly Assembly Lines Assembly in Action Fastening or Bonding? Loose Lips Sink Assembly Systems DFMA Cuts Downstream Costs Robots Lend a Hand Products Advertisers Index Classified Leading Lean

Assembly Planbook - June 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.