Robots, turnkey manufacturing cells, and enhanced technology on display

ABB Robotics will demonstrate robots, turnkey manufacturing cells, and enhanced technology that are designed to increase manufacturing productivity at IMTS 2014.

By CFE Media August 19, 2014

ABB Robotics will feature over ten advanced technology demonstrations at the 2014 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS). These demonstrations include robots, turnkey manufacturing cells, and enhanced technology designed to increase manufacturing productivity for operations of varying sizes and industry sectors.

Highlights include:

IRB 1200 Robots, which are designed to provide flexibility, ease of use, short cycle times, and a combination of a compact footprint and a large work envelope. It is designed for a wide range of material handling, machine tending and small parts assembly applications. 

FlexMT is a pre-engineered system designed to load and unload machine tools using vision guided robotics. Designed for both small batch and high volume production, the FlexMT increases spindle utilization by up to 60% over manual machine tending. The system is compatible with a wide range of machine tools, including horizontal and vertical lathes, machining centers, 5-axis machines and grinders.

The High Speed Industrial Part Handling Cell, which demonstrates the capabilities of the higher payload 6kg and 8kg IRB 360 FlexPicker robot models. It also features ABB Integrated Vision, capturing accurate part locations for pickup and set-down; and a Servo Gripper that allows the handling of multiple part sizes with a single gripper. 

The Robotic Bin Picking Cell, which features an ABB IRB 4600 robot, combines SICK PLB 3D vision for the precise localization of randomly orientated parts in bins and boxes, with gripper accuracy that allows the parts to be placed in known orientations and positions. The Robotic Bin Picking Cell was designed in collaboration with Midwest Engineering Systems.

The CNC Machine Tending Cell, designed by VersaBuilt, uses vise soft jaws to move parts in and out of the CNC machine, with no custom robot programming or robot fixturing required. The soft jaws enable a new tended part to be setup in approximately 10 minutes with the system able to run unattended for 24 hours. The demo at IMTS will feature an ABB IRB 140 robot. 

The IRB 6700 Robots are a three robot cell that includes one model in material handling dress and two models dressed for spot welding. The material handling robot is simulating load, unload and part presentation for the welding robots. The spot welders feature Spot Servo Equalizing, which allows spot welding gun equalization without mechanical equalizing hardware, reducing the investment cost and improving productivity. The IRB 6700 is available with LeanID, an Integrated Dressing (ID) designed for easier programming and a smaller footprint. 

CFE Media will sponsor the 2014 Global Automation and Manufacturing Summit on Sept. 10 starting at 8:15 a.m. in Room W190 in the West Wing of McCormick Place.

To learn more about IMTS, the IMTS 2014 Conference, and to register, visit IMTS.com. Conversations within the IMTS community are going on at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IMTS_2014 or @IMTS_2014

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IMTS-2014 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IMTS.show 


Author Bio: Since its founding in 2010, CFE Media and Technology has provided engineers in manufacturing, commercial and industrial buildings, and manufacturing control systems with the knowledge they need to improve their operational efficiency. CFE delivers the right information at the right time around the world through a variety of platforms.