Participation in the Technical Days of Stäubli Española
On May 10th and 11th we participated in the Technical Days that Stäubli Española, SAU organized on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Group.
We showed examples of the use of robotics in dispensing applications such as adhesion, sealing and encapsulation, either from systems with volumetric metering and dispensing heads, or with needle, diaphragm or pneumatic valves with pneumatic drive.
How to automate a fluid dispensing application? What degree of automation is required?
Among the variables to be considered is important to highlight:
- Configuration of the dispensing system (metering head / valve type, feeding system, control unit, etc.)
- Production volume and cycle times required
- Size of the parts
- Loading and unloading parts manually or inline
- Dispensing under atmospheric conditions or under vacuum
Different alternatives are available to automate a dispensing application, from production cells with XYZ systems, to cells with anthropomorphic robots. In such case, one can consider either the fixed layout of the equipment and the movement of the parts, or the fixed layout of the parts in a carrier and the movement of the head / dispensing valve.
In any case, the correct implementation and coordination between fluid dispensing and application operations is key to guaranteeing a good final product, and the increasing demand and flexibility required by production processes make robotics an increasingly valued option for the integration and automation of these operations.
It is also important to keep in mind that Robotics together with Sensory and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are evolving rapidly, transforming productive processes to incorporate more flexibility and real-time communications, thus increasing their efficiency.
This is known with the concept of Industry 4.0, 4th Industrial Revolution or Intellectual Factory.
Within this evolution of the industry, the challenge is to know how to use the new technologies in which Industry 4.0 is supported and provide efficient and flexible dispensing solutions for coping with a changing market that requires shorter production series and flexible manufacturing processes for a personalized service to customers.
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. (Vince Lombardi)