Robot for Aerospace Industry AIRBUS

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Company: AIRBUS
Industry: Aerospace
DENSO Products Used: VM-60B1G-V
Company Location: Germany
Website: http://www.airbus.com

THE PROBLEM

Airbus studies and tests the flow behaviour and the flight capability of diverse airplane types- especially wings and engines- that are essential components for the development and manufacturing of new aircraft types. The Airbus Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT Bremen) has been designed to analyse the performance of aircrafts during take-off and landing. It also studies factors such as pressure, stress and temperature at speeds of up to 85 m/s. Multi-hole pressure probes play a decisive role in this process because they are efficient and reliable tools to precisely measure flow conditions. As expected, all probes used for this purpose have to be calibrated accurately.

THE SOLUTION

Probes are checked with the support of a DENSO VM-60B1G-V robot either before or after every test or during a flight simulation.

“Contrary to most robotic applications, in this case, the most important is not speed but absolute accuracy”, explains Airbus’ project manager. “In this way, it is easy to decide whether or not a new calibration is necessary or whether additional tests can be performed.” In order to decide this, the probes are exposed to a flow field with known speed and direction. The robots carry out the movements of the probes within the measuring grid and the results obtained are then compared with the calibration values.

“The simplicity to operate the robots and the free choice to communicate with them using our own software is a great advantage.” says the responsible engineer at Aerodynamics Testing at Airbus. “Additionally, with its six axes, the robot is extremely flexible when operating in a three-dimensional grid with 1,000 measuring points. You have the opportunity to control the robot in such way that it is possible to check the same measuring point for one minute.” Previously, inflexible rotating discs inconveniently carried out these tasks.

THE RESULT

Thanks to the flexible robot programming language, data transfer into the evaluation program of the laboratory is possible. “I have never seen such flexibility in robots“, emphasizes the project leader – this department in particular uses highly individualized and self-developed software tools and programming language.

The Robot has six arms and is extremely flexible. This makes it easy to work in a 3D grid with 1,000 metering points for example. Furthermore, it is possible to access the device directly, which enables analyzing the metering points in more detail.

DENSO robots have been employed at Airbus since 2008.

Robot for Medical Industry – HEALTH ROBOTICS

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Company: HEALTH ROBOTICS
Industry: Medical
DENSO Products Used: VP-G2-S1 (H2O2-resistant)
Company Location: Italy
Website: http://www.health-robotics.com/en/

THE PROBLEM

To develop a very compact and flexible system able to manipulate a large variety of objects (i.e.: drug vials, syringes, and IV bags of different shapes and dimensions) that are normally used in the manual process of drugs compounding.

THE SOLUTION

Against this background the i.v. Station emerged, based on a DENSO robot – that could be described as a type of automated medicine distribution system, which is connected to the hospital prescription system. The appliance receives its order data from the prescriptions for the treatment specific to the patient. This information includes the medicine preparations that have to be made available in a selected time period and in a special form. At the point in time that a new bottle, a new syringe or a new bag is introduced almost nothing on the machine’s hardware has to be changed. It is enough to readjust the software or the modalities to handle and administer the object. Among others the i.v. Station allows the preparation of medicines such as antibiotics, painkillers and anti-inflammatories for inpatient treatments.

  • A DENSO 6-axis robot of the VP-G2 series takes the syringe and positions it on a mechanical dosing feeder.
  • Then it takes the top off the syringe and takes the bottle that has to be filled with the medicine out of the repository, which had previously checked by an image processing system.
  • After the needle has drawn off the desired quantity the robot lifts the syringe into the weighing system.
  • A gravimetric check is carried out there that makes it possible to make an independent check of the dosage. During these procedures the machine is continually provided with a constant air flow that guarantees sterility in the interior. This system guarantees that the air is completely exchanged practically every two seconds.
  • Before discharging, the syringe is provided with a protective cap so that the contents do not come into contact with the outside air. Then it is labelled by the labelling machine, which provides information about the medicine preparation and a barcode for identification purposes.

To avoid errors when filling materials the i.v. Station has two image processing systems with medium resolution cameras (three megapixels). These check if the bags and syringes have been correctly positioned and they also scan the bottle labels that appear to prevent the operator from accidentally confusing the medicines during the filling phase. This is supplemented by a control phase – which takes place during filling – that is done by a barcode reader placed on the front panel of the machine. The final check is done by the computer monitoring system, but through the barcode reader the machine already knows what to expect.

Great attention has been paid to the dimensions of the equipment, because there is normally little space in hospitals.  “Large equipment,” emphasises Giribona, “means nothing less than sacrificing part of the market, because many hospital do not have enough space to install it. It is for precisely this reason that we drafted the i.v. Station to be the size of a large fridge, a cuboid one metre by two metres high that can be easily set up.” The compact design of the DENSO robot met this aim.

Safety has top priority

To be able to guarantee an appropriate safety level in terms of functionality and operator access the i.v. Station is equipped with certain capabilities. For example, it guarantees that access by unauthorised people is prevented during working procedures. These measures extend from profiling the user using user names and passwords, reader modules to identify RFID badges, up to biometric recognition.

Robot for Automotive Industry – Dymaco

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Company: DYMACO
Industry: Automotive Industry
DENSO Products Used: VS-087
Company Location: Italy
Website: http://www.dymacogroup.com

THE PROBLEM

To develop a very compact and flexible Workstation for In-line Automatic Measuring with the latest Manufacturing Equipment Capabilities. A new programmed Dimensional Measuring Machine capable to compare a large variety of components to be measured based on comparison between the item to be measured and its Master Sample that are normally used in the control of Headlamps for the Automotive Lighting Industry.

THE SOLUTION

Against this background the DM Series emerged, based on the new revolutionary DENSO robot VS087 – that could be described as a type of Automated Lighting Inspection System Workstation, which is connected to the Manufacturer In-line Systems.

The Dimensional Measuring Machine robot receives its order data to carry out the measurements brilliantly assisted by DENSO robot VS087 according to its principle based on comparison through the Master Sample with the target measuring points located according to the Lamp’s CAD and the results obtained are then compared with the calibration values previously configured by the manufacturer ensuring all the times its precise performance and estimated manufacturer working cycles. DENSO robot VS087 gives to the DM401 a great speed and precision when calculates the points to be measured.

Great attention has been paid to the dimensions of the equipment to accomplish the World Class Manufacturing requirements where the DENSO Robot VS087 fits perfectly helping to minimize as much as possible the floor space usage when designing the DM401 Series.

THE RESULT

The employment of the DM401 series with the extraordinary VS087 robot contributes to reduce, to a minimum, possible errors in the process of measuring and inspections.

The DM401 series are distinguished by their high flexibility, reliability, simplicity, compact design and easy programmability . A good reason to include the DENSO robot VS087 is because of its high accuracy with simultaneous high speed making the DM401 the ideal Dimensional Machine for Automotive Lighting applications.

DYMACO is investing on the new versions of DENSO Robots to expand its future productions of new machines on many market fields where the use of Automation is required because are easy to integrate.

To have DENSO Robotics Europe as a client-partner on each of our projects help us to give to our customers simply the Best Design, Technology and Customer Support.

Measuring Technology

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Company: Mahr and SIM Automation
Industry: Measuring technology (medical, automotive and other industries)
DENSO Products Used: VS-087
Company Location: Germany
Website: http://www.mahr.de

THE PROBLEM

Turning the vision of Industry 4.0 into reality requires flexible, precise and fast measuring processes in order to ensure the quality of components. In particular, this applies to modern manufacturing in industries such as parts suppliers for carmakers or medical companies. The key to this concept is to integrate smart machines, products, storage systems and all operating resources, i.e. to inter-connect all processes within the value chain.

THE SOLUTION

The application specialist Mahr and SIM Automation, a manufacturer of special purpose machines, joined forces in developing a measuring cell designed to function in a more automated way, but also faster, more wireless and more user-friendly. The DENSO robot VS 087 plays a crucial part in this system.

  • The market-ready measuring cell provides a contour measurement, an automatic labeling of the work pieces to be measured, and also integrates the necessary robot handling – in this case, the system measures slewing pistons for medical purposes, loaded by a DENSO Robotics VS 087 robot.
  • SIM Automation is handling the assembly unit and the systems for verifying, inspecting, loading and sorting as well as the actual robot handling, the project conceptualization and management.
  • Mahr is providing the measuring technology; some of its important components are the MarShaft flexible shaft measuring technology, die MarSurf surface and contour measurement, the customer-specificMarSolution dimension measurement, the iwi radio manual measurement technology and the software platforms MarWin, MarCom and D1200X.
  • In the measuring system, the VS 087 grabs the work piece, which is identified via DMC (DataMatric Code) before the robot loads the turntable. After the measuring program has been selected, the work piece can be measured, the data will then be analyzed and stored. Finally, the VS 087 loads the marker, which reads the DMC, thus accessing the works piece’s number in order to label it.
  • Subsequently, the robot places the work piece onto the tray, followed by two scanner positioning test. The advantages of using a fully automated measuring system are evident – the work piece carries all necessary data on it and thus becomes a „smart object“.
  • As the system is capable of measuring three different types of slewing pistons, the actual work pieces may show a higher level of differentiation. And the process as such becomes faster as the metering process is automated.

The two companies haven chosen the DENSO VS 087 due to its speed, the easy integration of its software into existing customer systems (the robot is controlled by the programming language STEP 7) and, last but not least, due to the good experiences they have made with DENSO, primarily in medical applications and the excellent DENSO customer service.

THE RESULT

Thanks to its flexibility, high speed and the easy interface handling, the six-axis DENSO VS 087 plays a decisive part in the development of modern measuring technology. In addition, the robot saves space and can be easily integrated into the measuring cell. In the future, the cell will automatically signal when it requires maintenance or new parts, i.e. repairs and maintenance can be scheduled automatically. Thus the measuring cell automates quality inspection, also making the process as such more reliable.

The robot’s reliability precludes human error. Automated measuring processes open up a new dimension of quality assurance for parts or components in manufacturing across industries. The robot-assisted, inter-connected and reliable metering will improve both quality and manufacturing costs: The idea of Industry 4.0 will become a reality.

Watch the metering system in operation: www.sim-automation.de/news/control_2015_stuttgart.php

www.sim-automation.de

www.mahr.de

Robots to the cinema MARVEL

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Company: Marvel Studios
Industry: Movie Production
DENSO Products Used: VS 050 and VS 087
Company Location: USA 
and UK
Website: http://www.marvel.com

THE PROBLEM

For the latest release of its highly successful blockbuster string of “Avengers” movies, the production company Marvel Studios needed futuristic-looking robots for one of the movie’s key scene showing a dramatic turn of events in the movie plot. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is the epic follow-up to the biggest super hero movie of all time. When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and the “Avengers” are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron, an artificial intelligence, emerges, it is up to the “Avengers” to stop him from enacting his terrible plans

THE SOLUTION

DENSO Robotics provided three robots, two VS 050 and one VS 087, for the dramatic, turning-point scene set in a futuristic medical lab meant to be in Seoul of movie character Dr. Helen Cho (played by Claudia Kim), a geneticist helping the Avengers. “For this scene, we were not looking for industrial robots that would have fitted Stark’s lab, but rather for medical ones”, explains movie set designer Richard Roberts, one of the world’s leading sci-fi and fantasy set designers. “After some research we found images of DENSO robots, which had the right, white color and the high-tech design we were looking for. We wanted to show the cutting-edge technology in Dr. Cho’s lab – and the robots reflect that image. The DENSO robots definitely had the best look suiting the existing set design.”

The robots were lent to the production by DENSO Robotics, a DENSO service representative was on site programming the robots in PacScript to perform regular pick-and-place functions with several position variables, which were easily obtained by using the functions within the controller.

The actual filming of the scene took place over three days last year at the Shepperton studios near London.

THE RESULT

The robots can be seen in the key lab scene, when the Avengers are trying to stop Ultron: In the lab, Ultron forces Dr. Cho to create a physical body for him by applying her synthetic-tissue technology. As Ultron enters his body, his plans for human extinction are revealed, the fight against Ultron begins while the robots’ movements can be seen in the background and also during a fascinating close-up.

In the scene, the robots then acted as if in a lab, moving test tubes (the two VS 050) and a laser probe used on some tissue in the lab (VS 087). The robots used on the set are part of the latest line of vertical robot arms in combination with DENSO’s latest model controller, the RC8. ”The integration of the robots into the set was done manually and very easy, also thanks to the quick delivery and excellent DENSO service”, remembers Richard Roberts. Though they were not technically integrated with their software into the movie production technology, the set designers created custom-built work benches in order to accommodate the robots and then integrated them into the overall stage design. The white design and fast movements of the DENSO robots made them the preferred choice of the movie production company. Richard Roberts explains why the DENSO robots fit in so well and why viewers are fascinated by them: “Robots used to be science-fiction – now they are suddenly part of our reality. It fascinates that they copy human movements, both in production lines and in medical labs, for example, and perform amazing things. They really have come to life.” The set designer would use DENSO robots again in a movie with a contemporary or futuristic setting, fantasy or real.

DENSO robots made it to the silver screen and obviously, are there to stay.

For more information on “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, please visit www.marvel.com/movies

Poultry Processing SINTEF

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Company: SINTEF
Industry: Poultry Processing
DENSO Products Used: VS 087
Company Location: Norway
Website: http://www.sintef.no

PROBLEM

In one of the few industries where automation seems to have leveled out, a breakthrough application has now successfully demonstrated how robots can perform even the most challenging food handling usually done manually by human operators.

SOLUTION

At SINTEF, Scandinavia’s biggest independent research center, engineers developed the “Gribbot”, a specially designed system using a DENSO VS 087 robot for processing chicken breasts.

“This part of the chicken is the most costly one, so meat producers are naturally concerned about the yield”, explains SINTEF’s research leader for the Gribbot, Dr. Ekrem Misimi. “However, automating this process, as any procedure that relies on human hand-based operations, is very challenging. With the Gribbot, we wanted to show to manufacturers and food retailers that this kind of automation is possible today.”

The Gribbot is based on the center’s experiences with several robot-based projects such as RoboTrim project, also using a DENSO VS 087, which was used to trim objects in a salmon fillet. This experience with the DENSO V087, primarily because of its flexibility and the ease of use, has opened up a sea of opportunities in robot-based automation in the food industry for handling and processing operations.

The main goal but biggest challenge was to generate a satisfactory yield comparable to that of human operators – not an easy task, given the slippery surface, soft texture and the high variation of the chicken breasts as such. “We had to implement the scraping of the fillet from the carcass along the rib cage so that a minimal amount of rest meat was left on the carcass. This was an even bigger challenge for the entire system – from the detection of the gripping point with machine vision as well as creating an optimal path movement for the robot arm”, says Dr. Misimi. The biggest challenge, however, consisted in the development of the gripper. The chicken fillet had to be handled with care so that it would not be teared off or squeezed too hard.

RESULT

The Gribbot consists of a transport system, a machine vision subsystem, a robot arm and a  compliant gripper. The DENSO VS 087 robot-based concept is using 3D machine vision – the Gribbot’s “eye”, the DENSO robot serves as its “arm”, and the compliant gripper, which was designed by SINTEF, functions as the Gribbot’s “hand”.

SINTEF researchers opted for the DENSO VS 087 because it as an IP67-rated robot suitable for working with food raw material. It is also the fastest robot arm in its class, with a very short cycle time. “Having a robot that is easy to program is very important to us”, says Dr. Misimi, “as we can quickly develop a prototype.” Another reason for the DENSO V087 was the fact that it could be programmed entirely in a LabView environment, using the DENSO robotic library developed by ImagingLab/DigiMetrix. All of the equipment is interlaced in LabView, including the 3D machine vision. The system’s gripper is also controlled via the built-in solenoid valves in the robot arm, alleviating the researchers for long loss cables. SINTEF was also able to use the built-in electrical wiring of the DENSO V087 to send and receive necessary signals from the gripper. The machine vision is connected through USB 3.0 to the controlling computer and accessed via LabView.

The Gribbot can process a chicken breast in about 2-3 seconds, which – in a Norwegian chicken industry context – in perspective, translates into a concept based on one or more Gribbots being able to replace up to 30 human operators (8-12 per shift), resulting in huge savings for the industry and releasing the employees from highly repetitive tasks.

While it’s still a research project, the Gribbot demonstrates a promising technology readiness level that needs one more development cycle prior to potential industrial prototyping. The potential benefits of the Gribbot for the food industry are enormous – the Gribbot can optimize the entire production, making it both more cost- and operations-efficient due to the automation of the harvesting procedure. It also shows an optimal utilization of raw material very close to the one achieved by human operators. In the future, the system could also be applied to other, similar tasks throughout the food processing industry.

Movie available here: https://youtu.be/9BcqXaf0F2E

Fish Trimming SINTEF

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Company: SINTEF
Industry: Fishing
DENSO Products Used: VS-087
Company Location: Norway
Website: http://www.sintef.no

PROBLEM

The processing of fish and meat is subject to strict regulations: The production process has to be completely hygienic. It must be possible to track the origin of every product. Fish and meat have to have a consistent quality.

SOLUTION

The research company SINTEF from the Norwegian city of Trondheim is currently working to automate and optimize the way these foods are processed. For the processing, SINTEF uses the highly efficient six-axis robot of the model VS-087 produced by DENSO Robotics. With over 2200 employees SINTEF is one of Norway’s biggest research facilities.

“Our robot fillets the fish and operates the cutting blades”, Lars Wirenfeldt, Sales Manager of DENSO Robotics in Scandinavia, explains. The fish is measured with the help of sensors, so it can then be analyzed at which exact points the blade has to cut around the skin and the bones. Another advantage for the consumer is that unwanted bloody spots can be identified by the sensors and can be removed by the robot. The use of robots ensures that the weight and shape of the filets is close to identical when they go into sale. The process is also intended for portioning chicken breasts.

Demanding work environment
“The biggest challenge when processing fish and meat is that all pieces are different but are still supposed to look identical when they go into sale”, Harry Westavik, Research Manager for automation and product efficiency at SINTEF, says. But the processing of fish and meat is a difficult field to operate in. Westavik: “The work environment is cold and yet very wet, which is corrosive to all objects made of metal. DENSO robots are very robust and operate extremely fast. This is why we have chosen one.”

RESULT

The robot from DENSO not only complies with the IP67 standard, but is also completely washable with water. The robot also has internal wiring and is connected through the bottom, which reduces possible points of contact for bacteria and other microbes. The robots aluminum design was also chosen for reasons of hygiene and to weather outside influences.

Until now the job of separating the bones from the filets was done by hand, which was very time intensive and prone to errors. Furthermore, a lot of the fish was lost. The process that is now being developed by SINTEF will be based on several robots, which will take over the entire production chain in the processing of fish and meat. This includes grabbing the pieces with the help of sensors, the relaying on conveyor belts, the filleting and the packaging. ”Robots can be in use around the clock every day” Westavik describes the advantages towards manual production.
Automating the processing procedures can also be profitable for food companies: The production process becomes more hygienic and safer. The quality of the fish and meat is increased because only high quality cuts make it into sale. Additionally, the origin of the products and every single step in the production process is traceable. This increases the chances for the consumer not to receive contaminated meat or fish.

Movie available here: https://youtu.be/uAyJlOLtfGA