The ultimate in pick and place automation is being able to control an entire product handling system from a single controller. In a lot of cases in the past pick and place automation has been accomplished by having a series of pick and place robotics working in tandem with each other, but each was controlled by its own controller. There was a need for very fine synchronization between the controllers to accomplish the tasks required in manufacturing. Anyone can see that the coordination of application programs that instruct each device in the tasks that they need perform needs to be fine tuned since the actions of one device will impact the actions of another device. There is a domino effect established in work that is done on the production line. Add to the scenario the requirement of super high speed and the synchronization becomes even more critical.
Fortunately technology has been able to come up with an effective replacement for the pick and place automation scenario as described above. The state-of-the-art solution lies in the fact that there are controllers available now that combine motion, logic, and robotic control into a single controller. These highly controlled and high speed devices allow for efficient multitasking. Synchronization with belt speed allows the multiple devices that are instructed by a single controller to do insertion of products into primary and then secondary wrapping. It is possible to operate three robotic devices from the controller, but a fourth can be added that does not cause degradation in performance.
Logistics for this type system are made much easier because of the characteristics of the devices. It is much easier to install this controller and it subordinate devices. There is no need for interfaces to be installed so that each device can communicate with other devices. This says nothing of the tuning that must be done to synchronize several automation machines hooked to separate controllers. All the coordination happens in the single controller. The synchronization has to make sure that collision prevention is in place and setup correctly. With the single controller, this is not needed. The space that the single controller occupies is much less than its counterpart of multiple controllers. There is a dramatic reduction in the space for the single controller and the amount of space and time required for installation of cabling.
These state-of-the-art controllers also offer significant expandability in kinematics, being able to control 16 kinematics simultaneously. There is also the ability to add more axes and synchronized belts for further utility. Reducing the number of interfaces for such a system while cutting the cost of added components for automation are great attractions for such a set of devices. As technology continues to contribute to automation it is likely that this package of devices will become smaller in size and greater in flexibility and utility.
The application of the pick and place automation is very well-suited to the packaging of food and other products. Manufacturers of multiple lines of small food products can readily apply this set of devices in their manufacturing lines with almost immediate payback. Such a scenario lends itself very well to being used for multiple production jobs where pick and place and multiple product wrappings may be required for each product. The changeover from one production job to another is very efficient and will cut down significantly on the expense of setup for each production job. To make the entire production environment as efficient as possible it would be necessary to have a complete library of application programs completed and tested, ready to be loaded into the controller. This would further streamline the changeover process between jobs that could be done on the line where these devices are installed.
The combination of pick and place automation and vision or sensor systems makes for a very efficient automation solution for manufacturing. The sensory component gives feedback to the robotic component as to the location of parts that should be the attention of the pick and place operation. Add the speed component into this combination of devices and you have a very speedy automation operation. Feedback from the sensory device to the controller is so fast that it easily stays ahead of the movement of the pick and place device. The next instruction is ready for the robotic as soon as it has told the controller that it is ready to receive it. Having three pick and place robotics attached to the controller does not cause any degradation for the overall process. A high degree of accuracy is also achieved by all the material movement devices as they complete the manufacturing instructions.
Fortunately technology has been able to come up with an effective replacement for the pick and place automation scenario as described above. The state-of-the-art solution lies in the fact that there are controllers available now that combine motion, logic, and robotic control into a single controller. These highly controlled and high speed devices allow for efficient multitasking. Synchronization with belt speed allows the multiple devices that are instructed by a single controller to do insertion of products into primary and then secondary wrapping. It is possible to operate three robotic devices from the controller, but a fourth can be added that does not cause degradation in performance.
Logistics for this type system are made much easier because of the characteristics of the devices. It is much easier to install this controller and it subordinate devices. There is no need for interfaces to be installed so that each device can communicate with other devices. This says nothing of the tuning that must be done to synchronize several automation machines hooked to separate controllers. All the coordination happens in the single controller. The synchronization has to make sure that collision prevention is in place and setup correctly. With the single controller, this is not needed. The space that the single controller occupies is much less than its counterpart of multiple controllers. There is a dramatic reduction in the space for the single controller and the amount of space and time required for installation of cabling.
These state-of-the-art controllers also offer significant expandability in kinematics, being able to control 16 kinematics simultaneously. There is also the ability to add more axes and synchronized belts for further utility. Reducing the number of interfaces for such a system while cutting the cost of added components for automation are great attractions for such a set of devices. As technology continues to contribute to automation it is likely that this package of devices will become smaller in size and greater in flexibility and utility.
The application of the pick and place automation is very well-suited to the packaging of food and other products. Manufacturers of multiple lines of small food products can readily apply this set of devices in their manufacturing lines with almost immediate payback. Such a scenario lends itself very well to being used for multiple production jobs where pick and place and multiple product wrappings may be required for each product. The changeover from one production job to another is very efficient and will cut down significantly on the expense of setup for each production job. To make the entire production environment as efficient as possible it would be necessary to have a complete library of application programs completed and tested, ready to be loaded into the controller. This would further streamline the changeover process between jobs that could be done on the line where these devices are installed.
The combination of pick and place automation and vision or sensor systems makes for a very efficient automation solution for manufacturing. The sensory component gives feedback to the robotic component as to the location of parts that should be the attention of the pick and place operation. Add the speed component into this combination of devices and you have a very speedy automation operation. Feedback from the sensory device to the controller is so fast that it easily stays ahead of the movement of the pick and place device. The next instruction is ready for the robotic as soon as it has told the controller that it is ready to receive it. Having three pick and place robotics attached to the controller does not cause any degradation for the overall process. A high degree of accuracy is also achieved by all the material movement devices as they complete the manufacturing instructions.
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