February 2021

30 n ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING February 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com How Covid has helped to accelerate robot design T he global pandemic has had an enormous impact on both our working and our personal lives. From the automation sector’s point of view, one noticeable consequence has been a massive rise in interest and opportunities for automation and robotics. In part, this is because Covid has accelerated many emerging trends, which have carried over into manufacturing and logistics. For instance, we have become used to ordering customised products online and having them delivered within a few days. This can only be achieved cost- effectively by using highly automated and flexible production processes, coupled with equally highly automated intralogistics fulfilment centres deploying hundreds, if not thousands, of automated pick- and-place devices. This level of automation is already achieving record levels of despatches. New applications have also emerged during lockdown. Our attempts to control the virus and find long-term cures require massive quantities of rapid and reliable laboratory tests. Initially, the preparation of laboratory samples was done by hand. This required many people undertaking precise and repetitive tasks while working under hazardous and PPE-restricted conditions. As the longer-term medical implications became clearer, it beaome obvious that we needed to meet this demand with automation. Cartesian-based robot systems have been used successfully for many of these applications. They can vary in scale from complete systems no larger than a sheet of A4 size paper, to applications involving gantries that span more than 30m 2 . A common factor in delivering such systems successfully lies in the ability to combine axes easily and to select the appropriate motors and motion controllers for the task to provide the required speed, force and precision. In more than 30 years in the automation industry, I have never seen such pressure for the rapid delivery of handling systems. Fortunately, modular design platforms and standardised mounting interfaces now allow urgent design concepts to be produced for customised multi- axis handling installations in a matter of hours. At Festo, one urgent request for a health-related application hit our desks at 4.30 in the afternoon and was available as a 3D drawing for the customer to review first thing the next morning. Software is now available that makes Cartesian and gantry system designs fast and error-free, allowing swift turnaround times. For example, we have a design and selection package called Handling Guide Online [HGO] that allows us to input application requirements such as the stroke lengths, masses to be moved, and so on, in the customer’s own language. The software then looks for all possible solutions based on feed forces, inertia and the mechanical bearing specifications, and prioritises them. Price may be the most critical factor – but so too can power requirements or safety factors for bearing overloads. This is where the vision behind Industry 4.0 comes into play. The models created within such software contain not only the simulations, but also the mechanical designs and bills of materials. 3D CAD drawings can be created in numerous formats simultaneously and even include documentation for electrical wiring and programming I/O allocations. All of this data can be transferred seamlessly into documentation software such as Eplan. Kinematic models can be picked up within higher-level simulation packages, allowing complete stations to be simulated. PLC operating programs can be pre-written and“commissioned” virtually, before any metal is cut or assembled. While the global pandemic has forced many of us to work in isolation, digital communications have stepped in and re- established connections with colleagues. Industrial automation has changed in a similarly way. In the past, application support consultations between designers and suppliers were conducted face-to-face. Today many customers have found that, with increased access to easy-to-use free software, they can specify many handling and automation systems on their own. Where additional support is needed, remote consultation has become the norm and is frequently provided faster than a site visit. Now that we have become used to fast online services, we won’t be returning to our previous habits, setting the trend for accelerated robot design and delivery in the future. n How has the Covid pandemic affected our adoption of robotic technologies? Steve Sands, head of product management at Festo GB, shares his thoughts. Design and documentation software such as Festo’s Handling Guide Online can suggest several ways of achieving a required goal – and prioritise them