Page 22 - MetalForming Magazine August 2022
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  the cups, and provide a bit of compen- sation as the suction cups actuate and pull the part.
“As soon as that EOAT lifts off of the part stack, within about 5 msec, the user will know that the part is present, and whether it is a single or double,” Vance continues, comment- ing on the speed of detection and notification. “And, some setups can denote if the material picked doesn’t match the thickness taught for that job. For instance, a metal former may have taught the control that the appli- cation must pick a 2-mm-thick piece of steel but instead it has picked a 1.5-mm-thick piece. The control will note and communicate the under- sized material.”
Should such a situation occur, the sensing setup can be configured with an e-stop, or, in the case of a double- sheet detection, a robot can be taught to retry the pickup if cycle time allows.
“Here, the control would send the EOAT back down onto the stack, and perhaps that will break the double,” Vance explains. “If not, the robot can be taught to eject the problem part or double blank at a dump station, and then go back to pick
Sensors can be designed and manufactured into end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) to detect part presence and double sheets or parts. This adds important detection capabilities to front-of-line and press loading operations.
detection and response, notes Vance, comes the means to incorporate it all into full-line operations and control via ethernet IP options.
As for return on investment, just the ability to avoid costs and time for part, tool and equipment damage, and production delays—as noted at the beginning of this article—makes such
sensing technology a sound invest- ment, according to Vance.
“When you roll all of that together, we find that damage, lost production and quality issues run at least three to four times the cost of such setups,” he says, following with a simple conclu- sion. “This keeps the production line moving.” MF
 another. Depending on cycle time and applica- tion speed, it’s nothing to teach the robot to per- form such tasks, or even have the robot arm shimmy a bit to release a double. An integrator can teach such logic, telling the robot how to behave if it doesn’t have an acceptable part.”
Control and sensor providers offer various detection products depending on part material and thickness, and can work with metal formers and integrators to ensure the proper sensing capabilities for an application, accord- ing to Vance. In addition to the capability for such
Sensor-embedded EOAT likely can meet any line-speed requirements and rapidly communicate faults and other information to line controls and operators.
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