SOSTA

Bin picking is still one of the most challenging tasks in the field of robotics. There are more than 100.000 sheet metal manufacturers worldwide and all of them are facing the same problem: Sheet metal parts must be handled to load or unload machines or to be sorted and stacked for further processing. Automated solutions are hardly existent because of the large variety of shapes and sizes.

Together with Arnold AG and FORMHAND Automation GmbH, Trumpf Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH + Co KG has initiated a pilot project that aims for an easy-to-use multipurpose robot that is capable of grasping and manipulating sheet metal parts in various scenarios. Fraunhofer Ipa and Danish Technological Institute are ROBOTT-NET partners on the project.

The robot will be able to identify and detect the position of an object even in complex situations, such as chaotically stored in a bin. Objects of multiple shapes and dimensions will be grasped with one gripper to reduce hardware costs and mounting times.

GASBOT

Manual cylinders manipulation operations can lead to problems in terms of safety, reliability and traceability. This has driven Air Liquides search for automation to avoid painfulness for their workers, to have higher quality for their delivery time and to have a comprehensive record of their assets movement within their premises.

The GASBOT pilot project is in cooperation with Air Liquide, Asti Mobile Robotics and Asti Technologies Distribution and with Tecnalia and Danish Technological Institute as ROBOTT-NET partners. The objectives of the project are to: design and validate an efficient mobile manipulator robot to perform the internal logistics of gas cylinders baskets preparation: 1. When receiving empty cylinders from clients: move empty cylinders from Heterogeneous racks to Homogeneous racks. 2. When preparing expeditions to clients: move full cylinders from Homogeneous racks to Heterogeneous racks.

Flexible THT component placement

Weibels' pilot project is in cooperation with Technicon Aps. Danish Technological Institute and The Manufacturing Technology Centre are ROBOTT-NET partners on the project. This project aims to design, build and test a highly flexible robot system that can present a variety of the most common THT components, accurately grasp them, and insert them in the right place in PCBs.

Automating low-volume would have several benefits including: reduced worker fatigue and eye strain, reduced repetitive strain injuries, exact repeat-ability of the THT mounting process and the ability to standardize the placement process – leading to higher PCB quality, higher throughput and productivity, reduced costs, and greater worker safety.

CROMATEK

Together with Maier S. Coop and the ROBOTT-NET partners Tecnalia and The Manufacturing Technology Centre, Automatismos Maser is working on the pilot project Cromatek. 

The manufacturing sector of chromed parts has very high quality requirements. In the automotive sector this means that 100% of chromed parts are inspected. At the moment, there are no automated systems that can detect the types of defects that appear in these types of surfaces. This task is done manually by human operators with the problems associated as quantification, production monitoring and subjectivity in the analysis of the defect.

This pilot project is an automatic control system for bright surface coating or finishing pieces as chromed coating. The system will make the inspection during the manufacturing process based on machine vision and collaborative robotics.

AutoWELD

Piccolos pilot project is in cooperation with CEDIS Components GmbH, Delfoi Ltd. and Systemworkx PLM GmbH. Fraunhofer Ipa and Danish Technological Institute are ROBOTT-NET partners on the project.

This project will bring the new generation of efficient robot programming for small lot size welding to SME shop floors demonstrated in the productions of two SME end users, Piccolo and CEDIS components. Building on two successful voucher projects within ROBOTT-NET, the benefits and feasibility of this new technology have already been proven.

Cognitive technologies enable the robot system to automatically recognize possible weld seams on the products’ CAD model in the way a human welder would look at a workpiece and know where to weld it. 3D-sensors and intelligent image processing techniques allow for a precise workpiece localization.

MARS

Linak’s pilot project is in cooperation with Pehama Productions, Kamstrup and Danfoss. Danish Technological Institute and Tecnalia are ROBOTT-NET partners.

The project will address some of the barriers that are still hindering a wide introduction of Robots in High-Mix-Low-Volume (HMLV) manufacturing.

This project will focus on the development of a modular assembly robot solution, MARS, that can be introduced in a wide range of industries and production domains. The solution will unify a number of off-the-shelf products into a full solution that can be installed and safety-approved in a collaborative production environment within 14 days. 

UrbanPestPatrol

Irabia, Robotnik Automation and Hispavista Labs are together with ROBOTT-NET partners Tecnalia and Fraunhofer Ipa working on the pilot project UrbanPestPatrol. The project aims to be an innovative approach of robotics to the field of pest management in industrial facilities. The purpose of the project is to minimize the risk of a pest infestation, and its consequent associated cost, in industrial facilities and so providing the pest management sector with a powerful tool capable of minimizing the window of time between inspections.

To achieve the proposed goal, the designed system integrates autonomous navigation techniques, precision guidance, artificial vision and remote communication that will allow for a daily checking of pest signals, which compared to the current monthly frequency improves at least by a factor of 30 the effective level of protection. It should be noted that the pest management sector is transversal to all areas of industry, with special emphasis on the agri-food and drink sector and the public sector.

PIKBOT - Piot Kitting Robot

Automated kitting for complex and diverse applications is the name of Nissan’s pilot project that is in cooperation with Loop Technology Limited and HSSMI with ROBOTT-NET partners The Manufacturing Technology Centre and Fraunhofer IPA.

This Pilot will build on the voucher work and build a robotic test cell that enables Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK to develop automated kitting capability for its part families. The cell is intended to be modular and scalable built on low cost, commercially available hardware integrated together with advanced software capability available from the RTOs. For the Pilot the demo cell will focus on picking and placing of a range of families into a kit box, with the aim that the cell could be integrated into the existing systems as its safety, capability and reliability are proven.