Cubic Machinery recently delivered several automation cells to improve secondary operations productivity across various industries. The key to flexibility lies in the use of vision-guided robotics. These cells share some commonalities, outlined below.
Core Components of an Automated Cell
- Cubic gang-tool lathes: Cubic offers a range of gang-tool lathes equipped with FANUC CNC control.
"Gang tool lathes are our bread and butter, and we use gang-tool platforms heavily because they are easy to automate. Their small footprint and versatile layouts make them critical assets in high-speed production environments," said an Applications Engineer at Cubic Machinery.
- 6-axis robots: Cubic is an authorized integrator for FANUC, Mitsubishi, UR and Epson, allowing it to select the robot best suited for each application.
- Custom fixtures when necessary: Collaboration between design engineers, CNC applications engineers and an in-house machine shop enables Cubic to offer tailored workholding solutions.
- Vision guidance: Automated cells incorporate Keyence machine vision systems, providing precise part location data to guide the robot's movements. The vision system's high matching threshold minimizes false positives, enhancing accuracy. Additionally, a re-grip station ensures parts with clocking features are correctly oriented before machining.
"Setting up a new part on Keyence machine vision systems is quick and easy. Once the tracking program is created, the system locates the highest match above the set threshold and accurately guides the robot to the pick position," noted a Robotics Engineer at Cubic.
- Automatic hopper unit: The end user can unload blanks without sorting first.
- Flexi-drum XD: Utilizes a servo-driven rotary table to separate and position parts, ensuring they are ready for robot picking.
- Automatic door: A rodless cylinder opens and closes the lathe door for the robot and closes before machining starts, maintaining a compact and efficient cell layout.
- End of Arm Tooling (EOAT): A custom-designed dual gripper system enables the robot to handle both raw and finished parts simultaneously, streamlining the workflow.
- Safety assessment: The robotic cells go through a safety assessment process and safety interlocks are chosen to protect the user from potential hazards.
The introduction of these automated cells has accelerated manufacturing processes for respective customers. They are enjoying increased throughput, improved consistency and reduced labor costs.
One customer commented, "Cubic has been a good partner in this process. They have engineered a comprehensive solution, and the system is on track to give us an ROI within two years."
For more information contact:
Cubic Machinery, Inc.
13401 Benson Ave.
Chino, CA 91710-5231
909-590-9995
www.cubicmachinery.com
IMTS South Building, Level 3
Booth 339163