DAC 2021_12

n TECHNOLOGY November/December 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com 20 ABB HAS LAUNCHED a family of modular, robotic machine-tending cells for the metals industry that offer a variety of ways of loading and unloading machines, based on the size, shapes and number of workpieces being handled. It claims that the FlexLoader M cells will cut labour costs for machine-tending processes by up to 90%, with one operator able to handle up to 10 cells simultaneously. The automated system is also said to deliver machine utilisation of more than 97%, compared to 40-60% for manually operated machines. The FlexLoader M family will consist of six versions. Tray and conveyor variants are the first to be launched, and the others – including AGV, bin, zero-point, and random- feed varieties – are due for release in the coming months. They are designed to maximise flexibility and machine utilisation, while minimising productivity losses caused by production stoppages. They are suitable for applications such as foundries and die-casting operations that produce multiple types of products in varying quantities. “As customers demand greater variety and shorter delivery times, metals producers need to have a manufacturing process that can respond quickly and offer the flexibility to achieve high mix, low volume and batch size one production,” explains Andrea Cassoni, managing director of ABB Robotics’ General Industry business. “FlexLoader M is accelerating this move by providing a single unified machine-tool-tending platform offering the flexibility needed for handling a wide variety of production demands, whilst also improving productivity by eliminating the time, cost and disruption traditionally associated with production changes.” Using interchangeable standardised modules, the FlexLoader M can tend machines such as lathes, mills, and CNC and machining centres. The base machine stays the same, with the in and out feed modules being exchanged as requirements change. This modular approach makes upgrading and scaling up easy, with a day or two being needed for installation and commissioning. The conveyor version uses a vision system to simplify the loading of workpieces with complex shapes, allowing one cell to handle a variety of workpieces. The tray version has a small footprint and can be located almost anywhere, to handle workpieces with variable shapes such as cubes and pipes. ABB says that the FlexLoader M meets the demand for simple automated systems that produce more workpieces in less time. The cells are quick to program, even by users with no robotics expertise. A smart wizard allows new workpieces to be programmed in less than five minutes with no vision programming expertise, while changeover between already-programmed pieces can be done in less than a minute, making “batch size one” production a reality. Operator training takes less than half a day. All of the variants can be equipped with vision systems that identify a workpiece’s position and give commands to the robot, machine tools and other cell equipment. The FlexLoader M replaces ABB’s previous FlexLoader cells, delivering benefits that are said to include higher machine tool utilisation, and the possibility of lights-out production through unmanned operation. https://new.abb.com/products/robotics/ application-cells/flexloader Modular machine- tending cells can cut labour costs by 90% p OnRobot , the Danish specialist in hardware add-ons for collaborative robots, has expanded into software with the launch of WebLytics, a production monitoring, device diagnostics, and data analytics package designed to boost productivity and cut downtime. Capable of monitoring the performance of multiple collaborative applications simultaneously and in real-time, WebLytics gathers data from both robots and tools and transforms it into easy-to-understand, visualised device and application-level intelligence. OnRobot CEO Enrico Krog Iversen says that it is“the first software solution to provide real-time, application-focused data for collaborative applications across major robot brands”. The software is available globally via subscription. www.onrobot.com p Avnu Alliance , the industry consortium that is driving open, standards-based deterministic networking, has announced new testing facilities around the world and a streamlined certification platform that will make it easier, less expensive, more convenient, and faster for members to get their TSN-based and Milan Protocol-based devices certified. The new programme expands the scope of testing to boost availability, cut shipping times, and make it more accessible worldwide. It will expand the TSN ecosystem for professional media networking, industrial IoT, automotive, wireless TSN, and eventually other markets such as aerospace. www.avnu.org p Rockwell Automation is collaborating with Cadenza Innovation , a supplier of safe, low-cost and energy-dense lithium-ion-based storage systems, to define a strategic relationship including a shared goal of building the highest performance battery cell production lines. The companies plan to develop a customer cloud portal to manage deployed distributed energy resources, an end-to- end battery manufacturing execution system (MES), and equipment automation to support the expansion of Cadenza’s battery manufacturing in the US and elsewhere. www.rockwellautomation.com www.cadenzainnovation.com p The German packaging machinery manufacturer Optima Group has joined forces with another German company, the cybersecurity specialist Lancom Systems , to develop a new type of VPN system for machines that will make it possible to establish more secure connections with the installations at customer sites and maintain them remotely. They claim that the system is the only one of its kind on the market that allows monitoring of VPN connections and protects machine networks at customer sites with a firewall and is particularly user-friendly. www.optima-packaging.com/cybersecurity p Lattice Semiconductor has announced an automation stack that, it says, will simplify and accelerate applications such as robotics, multi- channel motor control and real-time industrial monitoring. The Lattice Automate stack includes software tools, industrial IP cores, development boards, programmable reference designs and demos. One potential application is predictive maintenance used to monitor multiple motors, thus reducing downtime. www.latticesemi.com/automate TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS ABB’s modular FlexLoader M cells can be reconfigured to handle a variety of machine-tending tasks