www.engineeringnews.co.nz 19 work in 12 hour shifts to ensure around-the-clock production of our EasiYo Yoghurt Maker. If one employee didn’t turn up for work it meant the entire production line would be halted. This wasn’t really financially sustainable for us so we were looking for an automated solution that would guarantee quality assurance and help us to reduce costs,” says Quintin Fowler, manager director at TCI. During its search for an automation solution, TCI came across Universal Robots’ technology at a trade show and made contact via Design Energy, Universal Robots’ New Zealand distributor. “We developed the layout for the production cell and designed and built an appropriate gripper unit for each of the applications,” says Mike Shatford, managing director at Design Energy. “TCI then manufactured the machine frames and mounted the various operating units in the relativities we had laid out. Once the machines were completed our technician spent time at TCI writing the robot programs and getting each cell operating to the customers’ requirements. “Design Energy were fantastic. We were initially considering an off-the-shelf robot from overseas, but I’m glad we were able to find a customisable solution,” says Mr Fowler. UR3 in action The UR3 is a compact table-top robot that weighs just 11kg and is capable of handling payloads up to 3kg. The robot has a reach radius of up to 500mm and features 360-degree rotation on all wrist joints and infinite rotation on the end joint. It is ideal for manufacturers such as TCI that have limited factory floor space and a number of intricate processes. TCI uses the UR3 to help label and place rubber feet on its EasiYo Yoghurt Makers. After a product is moulded, the UR3 aligns and passes the product though a label printer, then it adheres the label to the base of the product. The UR3 then inverts and places the product onto a mandrel, then picks up rubber feet from a bowl feeder and places them on the base of the product. A pneumatic press is then activated, which presses the feet firmly on the product. The UR3 then picks up the finished assembly and places it on a conveyer belt for delivery to the next process. The UR3’s controller provides control for all ancillary equipment including the label printer, bowl feeder, pneumatic press and conveyor. UR5 in action The UR5 helps manufacturers automate repetitive and dangerous tasks with payloads up to five kilograms and a reach radius of up to 850mm. The UR5 is suitable for collaborative processes such as picking, placing and testing. The success of UR3 gave TCI the confidence to implement a Universal Robots’ UR5 robot to help assemble several different sizes of storage bins, from 40 up to 112 litres. “We use the UR5 to put wheels on storage bins and we programmed the robots to be able to place wheels on multiple sized storage bins. The robots are so easy-to-program that we can quickly change from one size to the next by pressing just a few buttons,” says Mr Fowler. Flexibility is key Mr Fowler says, “Both the UR3 and UR5 went beyond our expectations in what we were looking for in a robot. These robots have the ability to perform the tasks that we need without being overly expensive or difficult to program. They also offered a quick return on our investment. “Universal Robots’ robots can easily move around and fold over on themselves in very tight spaces. The robot can also operate safely alongside our staff without the need for guarding.” Easy to program All UR robots can be completely reprogrammed and deployed for other tasks in a matter of minutes. A graphical user interface with a teach function enables an operator to simply grab the robot arm and show it how a movement should be performed. The userfriendly interface then allows staff to drag and drop the routines to do their programming. “The UR3 and UR5 are very flexible robots. They are very easy to reprogram, which is why we use the UR5 to help assemble all of our storage bins. The robot can be reset to perform different jobs depending on the size of the bin,” says Mr Fowler. Safe to use In contrast to traditional industrial robots in the
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