First ABB Robotics SVIA PickVision Installed in the U.S.
01.10.2014
ABB Robotics and SVIA, LLC Industrial Automation have announced that the first CNC machine tending cell in the United States featuring SVIA's PickVision Smart Camera vision system and an ABB robot was installed at the Atlas Copco facility in Grand Prairie, TX, on July 19, 2013.
"PickVision is highly flexible and easy to use, making it a viable technology for a wide range of robotic applications that can be enhanced by giving robots vision capability," said a company spokesperson. "SVIA specializes in equipping industrial robots with vision enabled functionality for CNC machine tending systems in manufacturing for such applications as CNC lathes, vertical machine centers, horizontal machine centers and grinders."
The Atlas Copco cell features an ABB IRB 6640 robot, three Okuma CNC lathes and a Renishaw equator. The IRB 6640 will load and unload the three lathes, present finished parts to a dot peen marking system, and then load the parts on the equator for comparison measurements. The cell will replace a three-person-per-shift system, increasing the number of finished parts by 70% in a 20-hour working day, while moving the displaced workers to more rewarding jobs within the facility.
"The SVIA automated system is very simple, both in its operation and how it communicates with the robot and the lathes. When it is up and running it is as easy as operating an ATM," said Soren Herlufsen, Production Development Engineer for Atlas Copco.
The Atlas Copco cell will handle a wide variety of part sizes within the medium and large range, with the IRB 6640 robot loading and unloading the largest parts, weighing 78 lbs each, two at a time. The system will also experience frequent changeovers, with the typical batch being between 30 and 80 parts. Batch changes will usually occur at least once every shift, with a changeover taking no more than 15 minutes.
"We have plans for doing extensive automation in our North American operations," said Herlufsen. "We have to keep up with China and India in terms of cost and speed. I expect the new automated CNC machine cell to be operating close to 24/7."
The Hartwig Dallas office is the Okuma machine tool integrator on the project, and has worked closely with SVIA and ABB on the installation. Hartwig team leader Stephen Draper said, "We are very impressed with the capability of the SVIA automated cell utilizing PickVision system and ABB robot. The fit and finish of the integration was seamless, providing the perfect complement to the Okuma CNC machines and Okuma THINC control. Okuma's Partner in THINC technology is even further on display with the incorporation of Caron Engineering's Auto Comp package and the Renishaw equator, forming a fully self-sufficient cell."
ABB Robotics, Caron Engineering and Renishaw are all members of Partners in THINC. This article was originally published in Manufacturing News.
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