"Up until now, users in the metal and plastics processing industries often faced a difficult choice: with CNC lathes and milling machines, one opted either for the largest possible variance or for large volumes/high quantities. A solution from FAULHABER makes both possible, and also allows for automation," said a company spokesperson. "The solution features servo-controlled gripper jaws, and brushless DC servo motors with integrated Speed Controller offer precision and reliability."
BMO Automation offers flexible automation solutions. A collaboration with FAULHABER resulted in a servo gripper that is connected to a robot arm in the robot cells. These cells are used for the automatic loading and unloading of CNC lathes and milling machines.
With its robot cells, BMO Automation enables automated production of widely varying batch sizes with quantities as small as a single unit. "Performance at BMO is defined as flexibility squared times productivity. Using the servo gripper developed by us, flexibility is increased significantly and customers can automate for batch sizes as small as one. This is the future," said Maarten van Bun, Marketing Manager, BMO Automation. "A simple robot or cobot performs the same job 1,000 times. We believe that the future is more likely to be the automation of smaller product series in a single pass. We call this multi-batch automation. We can also automatically manufacture 1,000 parts, but split into multiple series with low volumes. The result is both high mix and high volume."
The margins in the manufacturing of small quantities are generally higher than in mass production. At the same time, it is more personnel- and cost-intensive if the workpieces need to be manually loaded between individual turning and milling processes. BMO Automation combines the advantages of pallet automation with the option of also being able to load individual workpieces fully automatically. "This is made possible by, among other things, servo-controlled gripper jaws whose precision and reliability are guaranteed by FAULHABER drives," said van Bun.
In the servo gripper, a FAULHABER motor drives a gear spindle that is part of a linear guide system. The gripper fingers, connected to the guided blocks, move to the desired position for the product that is to be loaded into the CNC machine. The dimensions of the workpiece can change following the turning or milling process. The servo gripper automatically adapts the position of the gripper fingers without changing the loading and unloading cycles. As a result, it is not necessary to change the gripper.
"Harco Hermans, responsible for research and development for us, knew FAULHABER from previous projects, where he had very good experiences with the Motion Control products," said van Bun. The appropriate motor was selected using the Drive Selection Tool on the FAULHABER website. At the same time, BMO Automation received support from FAULHABER, for example, in checking the script files for communication with the BMO Intelligent Control Software.
Development lasted approximately one year, including a two-month test phase with reference customers. The biggest challenge was in integrating a reliable solution that is available in the smallest possible dimensions with a low weight, and thereby has a minimal impact on the load capacity of the robot. FAULHABER offers a compact yet high-performance solution in the mechanical as well as electronic part.
"CNC automation increases productivity, reduces processing time and offers a way to avoid issues associated with the shortage of specialists," said van Bun. "The advantage of an automated robotics solution also proved itself during the Covid-19 pandemic, which had a large impact on the metal industry. At the start, customers were more conservative with investments. The segment quickly changed, however, as it became clear that CNC automation is not only a solution for the future, but also for today. A robot does not fall ill and, even with limited working hours, a human operator can maintain the production level together with a BMO robotics solution."
Automated manufacturing also makes production possible on-site, thereby eliminating the disadvantages of outsourced production, such as closed borders and restrictions on travel and the movement of goods.
"If you would like to automate, it is important that a precise process be created that constantly guarantees a high level of safety. This precision along with repeatability are important. Because everything happens fully automatically, the error rates are low and our automation solutions function without an employee needing to be present. A reliable process is, therefore, extremely important. The products from FAULHABER guarantee us quality and safety," said van Bun.
FAULHABER develops high-precision miniaturized and miniature drive systems, servo components and drive electronics with up to 250 watts of output power. This includes customer-specific packaged solutions as well as a range of standard products, such as brushless motors, DC micromotors, encoders and motion controllers.
For more information contact:
FAULHABER MICROMO LLC
14881 Evergreen Ave
Clearwater, FL 33762-3008
800-807-9166
www.faulhaberusa.com