Assembly Planbook - June 2008 - (Page 53)

Its work envelope is shaped roughly like the bottom half of an inverted cone. The widest part of the cone measures more than a meter in diameter. The narrowest part of the cone is 852 millimeters in diameter. The robot has a vertical reach of 494 millimeters, and a maximum payload of 100 kilograms. Besides fixturing, the F-200iB can also be used for welding, nutrunning, material removal, dispensing and painting. “The F-200 is very stiff, so it’s ideal for applications like fixturing or routing. A typical six-axis robot or SCARA is not as stiff,” says Mike Sharpe, director of materials joining at FANUC. Why It Works Several technological advancements have come together to make robotic fixturing feasible. For one, the cost of robots has decreased dramatically over the past few years. Suddenly the idea of purchasing several robots simply to hold parts no longer seems extravagant. Another key development is the increasing power of controllers. Kawasaki’s Multi D controller can manage 48 axes of motion, while FANUC’s R30 controller can handle four robots and eight motion groups. Multiple controllers can be tied together across a high-speed network, so an entire assembly line can be managed as if from one controller. “I can control two arc-welding robots and two handling robots, and I can coordinate their activity with a servo-driven positioner, a conveyor or other motion systems—all from the same controller,” explains Sharpe. “Everything is programmed through the teach pendant, and safety is all interlocked, so you won’t ruin your parts or equipment due to inadvertent operations.” Wright adds that the concept of robotic fixturing makes sense purely from a financial standpoint. If an automaker has to build five different vehicles, it either has to buy five sets of hard tooling or one set of flexible fixtures. The initial cost of one set of hard tooling might be low, but multiplied by five, the total tab gets large in a hurry. In contrast, the initial cost of flexible fixturing might be high, but that expense gets divided by five. Flexible fixturing also pays dividends if a part changes. If an assembler uses hard tooling to fixture the parts, it may need to replace some or all of the tooling. If an assembler uses robots, it simply needs to reprogram them. “Think of it as ‘electronic shimming,’” says Wright. A ASSEMBLY ONLINE For more information on machine vision, visit www.assemblymag.com to read these articles: Robot Dos and Don’ts. Robots Make Victor a Champion. Assembly in Action: Robots Pay for Themselves in Seven Months. www.assemblymag.com June 2008 / ASSE M B LY 53 http://www.assemblymag.com http://www.orbitform.com http://www.assemblymag.com

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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

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