Page 17 - Metallforming Magazine December 2020

this work, but it’s too difficult to sepa- rate the oil-coated aluminum blanks. With steel, we could use magnets for separation.”
After initial part blanking and trans- fer of those parts to the conveyor, the two fixed-location cobots pick the parts off and place them in the dies of their respective presses, then unload the formed parts onto conveyors for con- tinued travel down the line. On the conveyors, parts funnel down to sen- sors that stop the conveyors when parts reach their required location. Conveyor sideguides ensure proper part orien- tation for cobot pickup. Complete cycle time from pick to placement in the die to unloading of a part back on the con- veyor is 24 sec.
“That’s slower than a human, but then again, the cobots are always on station (across PMI’s two-shift Mon- day-through-Thursday operations and single-shift Friday-through-Sunday work),” Larson says.
Hirebotics integrated the conveyors into cobot programming, with PMI integrating the cobot controls into the press controls, according to Larson. Essentially, a cobot runs each press, with sensors on the conveyors com- municating part presence to the cobots, which then know to pick up the part. A conveyor will not move until a part is picked up, and a cobot will idle until the conveyor presents a part for pick- up.
With a new part placed in the die, the press will know to cycle.
To ease troubleshooting and correc- tion, Hirebotics provides a mobile-device app where designated PMI personnel can text an issue. For example, suppose a cobot must present a part 1 mm to the left within a die.
“Hirebotics will correct that in a matter of minutes,” Larson says. “Reprogramming occurs remotely, and we don’t need to do anything on our end. The cobot moves that next part to the left 1 mm and it drops correctly into the die.”
As mentioned, two part types run through this line, but despite similar dimensions they each require unique
tooling. The permanent pre-positioned cobot baseplates ease the die-change process, as the cobots quickly can be removed for press-bed access and pinned and bolted back to their correct positions after tooling install.
Seeking Out More Cobot Applications
After witnessing cobot effective- ness in this press-tending applica-
tion, Larson and the PMI team learned of BotX, a robotic arc-weld- ing system developed by Hirebotics, Red-D-Arc and Airgas, and utilizing a UR UR10e cobot. PMI now incor- porates a BotX in its fabrication department, and company officials envision more cobots soon dotting the shop floor.
Says Larson: “We have some ideas on where we might place more.” MF
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