Industry Application | Breaking the "information island", composite robots (AGV + robotic arms) help upgrade CNC production lines

Project Background:

CNC machine tools are widely used in 3C, automobile and other industries due to their high efficiency and precision machining capabilities. Traditional CNC loading and unloading methods are cumbersome and time-consuming, while the supporting processes and equipment are often highly informationized and automated. Manual loading and unloading methods have become information islands and shortcomings of the production line. Currently, many AGV manufacturers are trying to provide efficient and stable solutions for CNC machine tools.

Oka Robotics and Kollmorgen jointly provided a solution for a leading precision mold processing company. After more than a year of field verification, its stable and efficient operation has won praise from customers.

Project Overview:

In order to maximize the space utilization, the layout of CNC workshops based on manual loading and unloading usually places more processing equipment. The dense sites and complex traffic routes have become the first problems that AGV manufacturers need to solve.

In the Dongguan project, a total of 16 industrial AMRs were deployed to provide customers with a complete solution for loading and unloading and material handling of CNC machine tools. The efficiency and stability of the AGV based on the Kollmorgen system far exceeded customers' expectations.

Product advantages:

1. Dual steering wheel drive. Oka Robot pioneered the dual steering wheel drive mode. The composite robot can move horizontally without considering the turning radius. Customers do not need to rearrange the position of the machine tool. In narrow aisles, vehicles based on dual steering wheels can also minimize the risk of collision.

2. The scheduling system is complex. Since CNC machine tools are very dense, there are often multiple vehicles that need to pass through the same intersection, or when a vehicle is operating, the path needs to be frozen. Therefore, when designing the route, this situation must be taken into account from the beginning to reduce congestion through early planning and simulation.

3. Accuracy. CNC feeding requires an accuracy of ±0.5mm, which requires the vision carried by the robotic arm to correct the deviation to ensure that the accuracy meets the requirements. At the same time, extremely high requirements are also placed on the positioning accuracy and angle of the AGV vehicle. Reflective plates are used for secondary correction. The Oukai robot finally makes the AGV stable and reach an accuracy of ±5mm.

4. Safety. The CNC operation area must consider the safety of personnel, vehicles and equipment. The vehicle uses multiple protective devices such as safety lasers, anti-collision strips and photoelectric detection.

Customer benefits:

1. Improve efficiency: The composite robot CNC loading and unloading workstation can achieve high-precision positioning, fast clamping and handling, shorten the operation cycle, and improve the efficiency of machine tools. The composite robot can also achieve fatigue-free continuous operation, reduce the idle rate of machine tools, increase factory production capacity, and achieve 7*24 hours of production.

2. Automation: Composite robots can not only be used for CNC loading and unloading, but also for other manufacturing links, such as handling and testing. Their flexibility and intelligence improve the automation and informatization of precision manufacturing and ensure product quality.

3. Rapid deployment: The deployment of composite robots does not require any modification to the ground or machine tools. The deployment can be completed by simply planning and simulating the route in advance.

Kollmorgen AGV focuses on providing system solutions for AGV manufacturers. It has accumulated more than 50 years of experience in vehicle motion control and system scheduling in complex scenarios. Even in complex industrial scenarios, it has the experience of dispatching 120 vehicles. In this precision mold project in Dongguan, it worked closely with its partner Oka Robotics to ensure the efficient and stable operation of the vehicle and help customers upgrade their intelligent manufacturing.

About Kollmorgen AGV

Kollmorgen AGV has provided vehicle automation solutions for automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and mobile robots (AMRs) through the NDC platform for more than 50 years. Kollmorgen AGV has deployed tens of thousands of advanced automated guided vehicles and mobile robots for various applications around the world through an ecosystem of OEM and system integrator partners.

Kollmorgen AGV solutions consist of system software, vehicle software and vehicle hardware, design and scanning tools and services. The NDC platform not only supports a variety of mainstream navigation methods currently on the market, such as laser navigation, natural navigation, QR code navigation, etc., but also supports their combined navigation methods. At the same time, the NDC platform includes software for managing fleets and effectively guiding vehicles, as well as hardware for navigation and control. In addition, Kollmorgen AGV regularly provides technical support, training, consulting and other services to partners.

Using Kollmorgen AGV solutions, partners can automate various types of automated guided vehicles or mobile robots and integrate them into various application scenarios in many industries around the world, thus reducing the actual costs for end users from early project implementation to later system operation and maintenance.