Fully automatic series detection technology application

Quality standards and product requirements are now so high that they make a complete renewal of testing technology absolutely necessary and drive the end of conservative practices. Increasingly precise measurement methods have now reached incredible levels. Accuracy, no mistakes, repeatability and speed are the focus of attention and are also the core of the processing and recording of test results and the resulting product quality improvements that increase competitiveness. Workers who do not rest and do not make mistakes have become the key factor for companies to win a stable market position, and automation is the vane of the latest testing technology.

Figure 1: Robot taking samples from the hopper

Test machine with integrated robot

The German company Test is expanding its product range with a fully automatic test machine with integrated robot and setting new standards for intermittent testing in production. Based on the standard model, this new fully automatic machine represents an important expansion of large-scale industrial quality assurance. Its test equipment consists of force and displacement measurement, a six-axis robot, a pneumatic or hydraulic tensioner and a computer. This model is designed primarily for general material testing. However, due to its high flexibility and versatility, it also has the possibility of testing components. Thus a system was created that not only meets the needs of individual customers, but also controls the interpretation of issues in future testing technology.

The TestWinner software controls the entire plant. A conveyor with a suitable hopper provides the specimens. A centrally placed robot takes care of the precise handling and conveying of the specimens to the individual workstations. The number of workstations and their arrangement can be customer-specific and each requirement is different.

The target application of such a fully automatic system is mainly the series production of various components and the development of new materials. The focus is basically towards the plastics industry, automotive-related industries, and long series manufacturers such as medical technology.

Reproducible measuring conditions

The advantages of the system are also the basis of the current concept. Thus, the test and the resulting results can no longer be manipulated, since the robot handles the specimens and eliminates the influence of human factors. From this result comes another important advantage for close-to-real measurements: the robot achieves a more exact reproducibility (<10 mm) in terms of the position of the specimen in the tightener, so that practically identical test conditions are provided. In the case of sensitive specimens, the influence of hand temperature on the temperature is also excluded. The equipment for the transport device requires only a small amount of effort and can be completed during normal working hours, although the automatic test equipment is operated 24 hours a day. There have been plants that tested 2000 specimens in 9 hours.

The specially designed computer board provides an important feature for the evaluation of the measuring points determined by the test. The direct connection of the computer board to the PCI bus of the computer ensures a high-frequency transmission, thereby ensuring an extremely precise evaluation of the measured values. The data acquisition and its control and processing are all carried out on the computer board, which has its own processor. Therefore, the acquisition of measured values ​​can be adjusted between 50 Hz and 10 kHz. At a frequency of 10 kHz, the actual control speed is in the upper range.

Because the macros are freely programmable, the Test Winner application software is also suitable for all users who do not have programming knowledge. The software, which has been proven in medical technology, uses networks and databases and has the necessary reliability for a reproducible record of all measured values ​​over many years.

Figure 2: The robot places the sample in the fixture

Supplementary options

The variety of potential extension modes and the adaptation to individual customer requirements opens up new horizons in testing technology. Here, not only can many test steps and processes be linked together and automated, but it is also possible to implement a complete set of test technologies in one plant. Specimen measurement stations, length change and transverse shrinkage sensors, surface roughness and moisture measurement stations are among the extension modes. All modes have interfaces and can be connected to databases.

Automated intermittent testing with barcode readers, automatic hopper feeding to recycling stations, and camera monitoring of the plant by computer are now becoming more and more mature.

The need for plant automation must be carefully examined. For this purpose, the manufacturer provides consulting services based on economic analysis. If the analysis shows that the plant must be automated, or perhaps only semi-automated, a solid concept is prepared together with the customer and implemented if necessary.