This year at Automatica, we are excited to showcase our brand new Robotiq Machine Tending Solution. It's generating a lot of interest!
The Machine Tending demo is one of the most popular areas of our booth. You'd struggle to find even a minute of the day when it isn't surrounded by interested people!
Unlike other machine tending automations on the market, ours is much simpler to deploy and use. It doesn't require you to integrate with the CNC machine in the conventional way, which significantly reduces the common hurdles associated with automation.
The solution is straightforward for new robot users and you can be up and running in just a few hours.
Introducing the Robotiq Machine Tending Solution
If you're a manufacturer or machinist, you'll know that machine tending is a repetitive and tiring task. Operators load and unload parts into CNC machines, which are then machined to create your products.
It's a crucial part of manufacturing, but it's also one of the most arduous and unrewarding tasks that operators have to perform.
The Robotiq Machine Tending Solution is our answer to this problem. It includes everything you need to automate your CNC machine… without requiring you to integrate with the machine's complex communication protocols.
See the Machine Tending Solution in action!
In our video demo here, Robotiq's Production engineer Mathieu Bélanger-Barrette walks you through the demo, explaining how the solution works, what's included, and what makes it such a unique approach to Machine Tending automation.
No complex integration required: Our solution's unique strength
One of the usual problems with machine tending automation is you need to interface with the CNC machine through its communication protocols. This is a complex and often difficult task, making automation restrictive for most machinists.
The Robotiq Machine Tending Solution doesn't require this complex integration at all. Instead, we use a simple but powerful approach to interface with the machine – we operate it in the same way that a human does!
Our solution…
- Detects the status of the CNC machine by reading its status lights with light sensors.
- Presses the Start/Stop button on the CNC machine with a button presser.
- Presses the workholding Open/Close foot pedal with a linear actuator.
Simple, right!?
This means that you can use the solution with any CNC machine without requiring you to change anything on the machine side. You can be up and running in hours, not days or weeks.
It's a unique selling point that has generated a lot of interest here at Automatica. If you're looking for a machine tending solution that doesn't require you to know anything about CNC integration, then this is the solution for you.
What's included in the Machine Tending Solution?
The Robotiq Machine Tending Solution comes in a single gripper or a dual gripper option, and includes everything you need to get started:
- Machine Tending Copilot software
- Robotiq MT controller
- Pneumatic panel
- Button Activator
- Air nozzle kit
- 1 or 2 Hand-E adaptive grippers (depending on your chosen option)
- MT fingertips starting kit
- Dual bracket + New compact dual Hand-E bracket (for dual gripper option only)
- Stacklight detector
- Footswitch activator (if you're using a lathe)
You can also add the options of the Robotiq Wrist Camera and the Robotiq adjustable pedestal.
At Automatica? Come and check out the Machine Tending demo!
If you're here at Automatica, stop by our booth (B4.502) to see the Robotiq Machine Tending Solution in action and learn more about how it can streamline your operations!
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