New Scale's Q-Span Workstation lets quality teams automate part handling, gauging and data logging on the shop floor. Combining a collaborative robot (cobot) with robotic calipers and standard gauges, the do-it-yourself automation system is designed to improve process control, yield and throughput for high-mix, small-batch manufacturers.
The workstation features a cobot from Universal Robots and easy-to-use, teachable software for robotic control and data collection.
"The system is simple to set up and no robotics experience is needed," said Stefan Friedrich, Product Manager at New Scale Robotics. "Our goal is to empower anyone from a manufacturing team to use the robot after a day or two of training. There is no programming, rather teaching the robot new inspection routines. This makes it an accessible tool for anyone to use."
The workstation includes up to three of New Scale's smart grippers/robotic calipers, and can easily incorporate users' preferred metrology tools to automate their existing manual processes. These include contact inspection tools such as bore gauges, height gauges and pin gauges, and noncontact inspection such as air gauges, laser micrometers and vision systems.
In an example, the company shows the Q-Span system in an in-process gauging application. The Q-Span System uses its gripper/caliper to pick up a part from a conveyor and load a bore gauge, which measures the inner diameter. A second gripper/caliper moves the part to the drop gauge, where the height is measured. A third gripper/caliper with metrology fingertips then measures the outer diameter. See the video at newscalerobotics.com/video-three-gauges-on-one-robot-for-automated-gauging.
The system can make decisions based on real-time measurement data from any of the gauges, such as moving parts to a pass/fail location or sorting them based on size.
The workstation's data collection software digitizes inspection data from multiple gauges into one output for later analysis with SPC or QMS software.
"Automated part handling, measurement and data collection means that quality teams can easily generate real-time inspection data for up to 100% of their parts while reducing inspection costs," Friedrich said.
For more information contact:
New Scale Robotics
121 Victor Heights Parkway
Victor, NY 14564
585-924-4450
nsrsales@newscalerobotics.com
www.newscalerobotics.com