Collaborative ROBOPLACE
“Colleague Robot” assumes insertion for THT components
The ROBOPLACE rings in a new era of man-machine collaboration in the soldering process. With its flexible 2-arm technology, it frees up the operator to assume more demanding tasks – and that without requiring a safety enclosure!
So far, very few manufacturers are deploying a “colleague” robot in their board assembly process. With the ROBOPLACE, Ersa cuts short a seemingly never-ending discussion and presents the actual practical application. In technically demanding electronic assemblies for industry and for the automotive section, THT components are still an integral part – connectors, capacitors, chokes or other special components, very often just a few components per assembly, were up to now manually inserted prior to the selective soldering system. In order to keep up with the short cycle times of an inline production environment, this frequently required a number of employees performing the work. The ROBOPLACE will now take on the repetitive task of inserting components for small to medium production volumes. It will not replace the operator, but it rather frees him up to perform other, more demanding tasks. Ersa is basing this man-machine collaboration on the YuMI™ robot technology from ABB.
Two Arms – twice as fast, twice as flexible
The Ersa ROBOPLACE is installed prior to a selective or wave soldering system and does not require any safety guarding. Since upon making contact it stops movement or moves away, it is, as are all collaborative systems, slower than robots operating behind safety guarding. This seeming disadvantage is compensated by the ROBOPLACE through its two arms, which allows the unit to be twice as fast and twice as flexible. Both arms are controlled independently from each other, and they also move independently from each other. As a rule, the components are picked up by finger-type grippers, so that centering the components is already ensured during the pick-up. Components are presented to the grippers from either quick change trays or from common sticks or tape-and-reel packaging.
The complete communication – multi-code capture of the board assembly, SMEMA interface to the loading system, communication ROBOPLACE plus transfer to the selective system including product tracking – is via the ROBOPLACE system control. The motion sequences are taught via smart devices, i.e. tablet-PC or smartphones. Component placement software is available for the teach-in, from which basic sequences, already optimized for robotics, can be called up. Also, the operator can program, easily and intuitively, his own motion sequences. With the ROBOPLACE Ersa sets new standards in board assembly production, and lastingly improves the production process for the benefit of the employees!