1. Have I read and do I understand the applicable safety standards that apply to robots and their integration? ie; Crush zones, guarding setbacks, access areas?
2. Am I committed to adhering to the safety standards and requiring all parties associated with the project to comply as well?
3. Am I committed to acquiring and providing the training needed for the safe use of the cell by operations and maintenance personnel?Equipment On the surface robots seem to be very similar in capabilities between the various manufacturer. Digging deeper reveals vast differences in hardware reliability, longevity, implementation of safety features, operator interface, and programming methodology. Regardless of size and complexity, your first robot system is often under great scrutiny and sets the direction for all future implementations. Pre-purchase diligence will help you establish a clear automation path now and reward you in the future as well.
4. Am I confident that the robot equipment I am purchasing is the best fit for the current project and is it on the path I've defined for future automation projects?Once implemented, robots are often vital to meeting your production demands. While they are extremely reliable, at some point support will be needed. Is there 24/7 support from the manufacturer or integrator? How quickly could the needed support personnel be on your site? Spare part availability? What about remote diagnostics? Has the cell been designed to allow for at least limited production with the robot out of service?
5. Does the robot vendor/integrator have the resources and commitment to service that I need for this important part of my company's operation?End of arm tooling and cable management is crucial to the success of the project. Is it designed to survive the long term stresses of the anticipated loads/accelerations? Is it able to withstand the high forces of a collision with misplaced products or improper setup? Are consumable parts (vacuum cups/grip pads/nozzles) easy to replace without requiring recalibration? Keep in mind that cable (and hose) management becomes more difficult as the range of motion increases, and becomes more critical as the cycle rates increase.
6. Does my (or my integrator's) tooling design and cable management plans anticipate the rigors and lifespan of this project?Programming, Operator Interface, Operations The best robot for the application with well designed and robust tooling, in a safely designed and operator friendly cell can still cripple your operation if it has not been programmed with the same attention to detail. Programming determines whether your investment in robotic automation will be a trusted dependable partner, or the madman in a cage that the operators are scared to work with and maintenance hopes to avoid. The operator interface must be clear and easy to understand so that operators can quickly gain confidence in using the system after appropriate training. The operator controls should minimize the steps required to set up the desired operation and validate the operators input to reduce the risk of errors. To further limit the possibility of improper setup and collisions, wherever possible, the system should be 'self-aware' of the work environment through the use of sensors and encoding on tools, jigs or fixtures. Repetitive or reactive operations are often cumbersome and slow if done through operator displays ' judicious use of real buttons/controls on a well designed panel is usually a better solution. Alarming and operator alerts should be specific, understandable, and retained in a log for later review. Error and fault recovery must be bulletproof. Well written programs should be able to handle and guide the operator through the recovery process from any foreseeable error conditions without risk of damage to equipment or products. Well written programs should also determine where manual (i.e. qualified personnel) intervention is required and prohibit any other operations until in a safe position.
7. Will my (or my integrator's) programming abilities, experience, and dedication to this project ensure the finished system will meet the needs of our operators and provide them with the tools they need to make this project successful?A well designed robot system should be pretty much maintenance free. Good programming, detailed alarming, and diagnostic logging can give your engineering and maintenance personnel a real edge in quickly identifying, and resolving problems with the system. Quality safety components properly applied along with the annunciation of each safety device's status will minimize the temptation to 'override' to get things working. Well documented programming with careful references to the real labeled input and output components further reduces the time needed to restore a troubled system to operation. Calibration and detailed instructions should be provided to allow replacement components or tooling to be quickly deployed with repeatable results.
8. Will my (or my integrator's) programming abilities, experience, and dedication to this project ensure the finished system will meet the needs of our engineering and maintenance teams and provide them with the tools they need to keep this equipment functioning as designed?Robot systems can be as simple as a stand-alone pick/place unit or as complicated as a fully integrated system that chooses tooling, paths, routines, and calculates all target positions from data supplied by a supervisory system. Would your production tracking system benefit from information supplied by the robot system? Can you eliminate the potential of human error by passing system data directly to the robot system? The higher the level of integration, the more important it becomes to select your robot supplier/integrator carefully.
9. Will my (or my integrator's) programming abilities, experience, and dedication to this project explore the potential for real integration and production tracking so my investment can be fully utilized and production improvements documented?Reality Check Thankfully, the innovative application and use of robotics still depends on people - people like you ' people with a vision and determination to see their plans through. Robots are great tools, but they clearly are not the solution for every application. While careful design and excellent programming can provide years of dependable production; robots do not innovate, offer suggestions, buy your products, rejoice with you at the birth of a child, or offer support when you need help. People are your biggest asset; use robots to help your people make the best products possible. If your people see the robot only as a way to cut the head count, you will struggle. If they see it as a tool to help them or relieve them of demanding physical work you are on your way to success.
10. What is my motivation, and how can I best utilize people and automation to succeed in this demanding competitive environment?Founded in , QComp Technologies, Inc. is a robotics integrator, providing automation solutions for a variety of industries. The company designs and builds automated robotic manufacturing cells and materials handling systems, as well as engineers and manufactures drive systems for paper, metal and converting industries. With headquarters in Greenville Wisconsin, QComp has sales and service offices in Wausau and Milwaukee, WI. More information can be found on the company's website at www.qcomptech.com.
We've said it once and we'll say it again: Robotics is not rocket science!
Nevertheless, as a future robot owner, you shouldmake sure that you ask yourself the right quesitons before you choose your new metallic coworker.
There are a number of factors that will influence which robot is best suited for your particular process. If you can answer the 10 questions listed here, finding the right model will be a lot easier and faster.
You can work with an integrator to do this, or you can enter the answers into our configurator, which will then pick out a solution to fit your specifications.
Source: bruce mars via Unsplash.com
1. What industry are you in?
Yes, it may seem obvious and it is probably the easiest question in this list, but it is an important one for choosing the right robot. Depending on the industry, there may be requirements that exclude a number of robots.
For example, in both the food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries, there are stringent hygiene requirements that not every robot will meet.
2. What task will the robot perform?
Again, this is more of an elementary question, but the process or sub-process you want to automate will also determine the choice of robot, as some models are not designed for specific applications.
For example, the process might require high maneuverability over a variety of axes, which not every robot will not be able to achieve.
If you're unsure of what process you want to automate, our tip is to look for tasks in your current process that are repetitive, dirty, or even dangerous for a human to perform. Also, especially if you don't have a lot of experience using robots yet, you should start with as simple a process as possible.
When in doubt, automate the simple and the repetitive first and tackle complicated processes later.
Source: Media Print
3. What range does the robot need to have?
The first two questions are still relatively general, this is where we start to get into the details. The reach needed depends on the process: where do the parts arrive? Do they need to be transported to another point? Does the robot need to be able to reach different points within its work area (e.g., when sorting parts)?
The subsequent layout or design of the robot workspace is also critical here in determining how long the reach must be. There are even ways to artificially extend a robot's reach by moving the gripper, but this can come with a significant payload limitation, so it's better to consult a professional here.
4. How much weight will the robot be lifting?
Depending on the process and the objects with which the robot is to work, the minimum payload capacity requirement can be determined. Of course, the robot's payload can be higher ' this gives you a greater degree of flexibility should the process change.
It should also be kept in mind that, in addition to the objects with which the robot is to work, the weight of the gripper must also be taken into account. So the payload should be high enough to lift both the object and the gripper ' ideally with some capacity to spare.
Source: Victor Freitas via Unsplash.com
5. What batch size should the robot produce?
Will a large number of a part be made on each production run, or are you more likely to make small quantities? Or perhaps you'll be producing products that all vary from one to the next.
This determines how adaptable the robot needs to be. With traditional industrial robots, for example, changing over from one programmed process to the next can be very complex. Conseauently, they are less suitable for small batch sizes. Their smaller 'relatives' ' collaborative robots ' on the other hand, are designed with flexibility in mind. And, thanks to their intuitive operation, even laymen can reprogram them without special expensive technical training.
6. What is the expected daily production volume?
We have already discussed the total batch volume, but the daily production volume also has an influence on which robot is chosen. If the requirements for daily production are high, then the robot must also be able to work faster.
But not every robot is able to work at high speed ' especially if you want to use a robot collaboratively without restrictive additional safety precautions. Among other things, cobots can only operate at a certain speed in the vicinity of people. This means one can't expect industrial robot speed with a cobot.
However, many collaborative robots can work faster, but then you have to take into account additional safety reauirements. This happens relatively often and is one of the upsides of using cobots in comparison to traditional industrial robots. Cobots can operate collaboratively or uncollaboratively and be switched from one to the other in relatively short order.
Source: Jan Huber via Unsplash.com
7. What material will the robot be manipulating?
Another crucial factor is the material or materials with which the robot will work. We have already discussed the importance of weight above, but the material itself is important, too.
For example, if the material is reflective, then using cameras and vision systems can be problematic. If the material is porous, a vacuum gripper is probably not the right choice. If it's very delicate ' like food, for example ' you may need special grippers that won't cause damage. Or perhaps the robot is working with flammable or explosive materials, in which case care must be taken to ensure that it is properly grounded.
8. How precise does the robot need to be?
The fact that they can work more precisely than humans is an oft-cited advantage to robots. The true accuracy or repeatabilit, however, varies from robot to robot. Some are much more accurate than others.
If you need a very high level of precision, i.e. you can only cope with very small deviations in the range of a millimeter or less, you have to be very careful to select a robot that can meet these requirements.
Source: Media Print
9. Which kind of End-of-Arm tool do you need?
A robot alone cannot do much; It needs a 'hand' to fulfill its purpose.
What kind of gripper or end-of-arm tool you need depends primarily on the answers to the above questions. The weight, material, sensitivity, etc. of the object to be handled all come into play, here. In many ways, picking an end-of-arm tool is just as important as picking a robot.
If the robot is picking up packages and placing them on a pallet, then a vacuum gripper might be in order. If it's placing fruit into cartons, then a SoftGripping tool might be in order. If it's placing tiny electrical parts, then a two-finger gripper might be in order.
When in doubt, you can always use our configurator to find the ideal solution for you!
10. What kind of camera do you need?
Lastly, there is one more component that you may need: a camera.
Cameras can be especially important for production runs and processes that have a lot of variance. With the various kinds of cameras and visions solutions available, you can greatly increase the flexibility of your system and its ability to identify and deal with variations. These variations could be in shape, size, position, material, etc.
However, if the process is repetitive and the objects that the robot is with are uniform and in consistent positions, then a camera might not even be necessary.
Cameras have a myriad of uses and it's important to recall that they can also just be used for code scanning, so that the robot can identify and track specific parts and pieces.
Cameras can greatly increase the practicality and flexibility of the your robot!
Source: Alex Andrews via Pexels.com
Conclusion
There are many factors that influence the choice of a robot. If you can answer the 10 questions listed here before you even begin your search, you're already well on your way to finding a robot that's right for you.
In fact, with the answers to the above questions, you can find your robot in just 5 minutes! Enter your requirements into our configurator and it will find you the right robot, end-of-arm tool, and ' depending on whether or not you need one ' a camera.
Where do you want to go?
You want to try it out right now? Find a solution now.
Want to learn more about integrating robots into business processes? Then download our free whitepaper 'Process integration: 5 steps to automation'! Download now
Goto Fuxin Intelligent to know more.
Are you interested in learning more about industrial robotic arm manufacturer? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!
The company is the world’s best robotic arm assembly line supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.