Milling takes another step away from the human operator

Related Vendors

DIPROFIL Diamantprodukter AB

Ramada Acos

toolcraft AG

The Robo-Box is said to be a universal solution for many tasks and various materials, including post-processing for injection moulding processes such as deburring, and in model construction or woodworking. New possibilities include unrestricted access to the component without having to turn it over, as well as expanding the robot's working area through the use of external linear or rotary axes, which can be used simultaneously or indexed. All this saves users time the fast turnaround times for finished components.

The closed machining room is fitted with manual chipping extraction. Extraction can be automated if desired. Eight tool positions are available as standard for different machining tasks, from which the system can automatically take the desired tools without re-clamping.

The tool changer can of course be expanded if the task requires it. The operator selects one of two modes: one where the component is supplied to the process (remote TCP applications), the other where it is clamped and processed by the robot.

A key feature of the unit: offline programming

The machining cell robot does not have to be conventionally taught. All kinematic movements are programmed using the Mastercam Robotmaster software before starting work, the supplier said.

All the robot's movements are visually recorded as kinematics through simulation and optimised, and then loaded onto the machining cell's hard disk before work begins. Unlike teaching a conventional robot, no original or reference model is required here. The robot finds all paths independently from the first part and processes the components from batch size 1 to batch size n, the company explained.

The unit does of course have anti-collision protection to support reliable machining. This approach also increases system availability, the supplier noted. The cell is a customised all-round solution from the product concept through the design, the construction to the final inspection and QA with CE labelling, the company added.

Machine Tool 2.0–highly flexible in its use

As a machining cell, robot and machining room form a unit that can be used wherever needed as a module of a universal machine tool in production. Depending on the equipment, the unit can perform classic metal machining such as turning, milling, polishing and grinding sequentially. This means the component can be made and refined on the spot, the supplier explained.

The robot does not just perform the loading and unloading of the workpieces. As part of a continuous process chain, upstream and downstream tasks are performed on the workpiece–in the same programming language as that of the machine tools. This allows for metal components from various areas of applications for engine parts as well as functional elements to inserts in toolmaking.

Toolcraft said its systems are custom-sized depending on the component's dimensions or range of tasks required. This means large bodywork parts or components that place higher demands on the robot are processed with larger robots whilst other tasks are better suited to a medium-sized or small robots, which have better access. The size of the machining room is dictated by the tasks specified by the user.

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