Machine Tending using Universal Robots

Tyler_Berryman

Hi Guys,

I visited a machine shop this week to take a look at their robotic machine tending cell to see how they integrated the robot with the CNC machine and a few conveyor belts. After talking about the various challenges that they faced regarding the choice of manufacturing cell to automate, choosing the brand of robots and various other subjects they mentioned something I had not considered before. 

The biggest issue that they have run into since the installation of their robotic cell was having to adjust the hydraulic pressure of the chuck for each setup. They ended up getting a controller for their hydraulics to solve the problem and now everything works great.

Have you guys run into any unexpected challenges while automating a machine tending application?

Sebastien

@Tyler_Berryman
One question that we face is to find a way to measure the part after it has been machined and flag an error if it is out of tolerances such that the operator can come in and change the cutting tool.

Have you guys seen something like things or some devices that could help me out?

Best regards

matthewd92

@Sebastien depends on what you are trying to measure, there are optical and air gauges out there for measuring features such as length, width, OD, etc. Keyence makes quite a lot of measuring systems that uses either lasers or optics for measuring parts. 

There are also systems that can measure the tool itself and then correct the tool offsets in the program to account for wear over time. These would be placed inside the machine.