Robotics Cells PDF

1/3/23 ROBOTICS CELLS Week 5 IE454– Industrial Robots Dr. Majed Moosa 1 • A cell is any station in the manufacturing process, such: § As on a production line, where a specific operation is being done WHAT IS A ROBOTICS CELL? • If the operation is done by a human, the station is known as: § A ma...

1/3/23 ROBOTICS CELLS Week 5 IE454– Industrial Robots Dr. Majed Moosa 1 • A cell is any station in the manufacturing process, such: § As on a production line, where a specific operation is being done WHAT IS A ROBOTICS CELL? • If the operation is done by a human, the station is known as: § A manual cell • Purpose is to automate a process. § That process could be one that’s currently done at a manual cell, or § it could be an entirely new function. A robotic cell is simply a station that includes a robot 2 1 1/3/23 GLOBAL VIEW OF A MANUAL AND A ROBOTIC CELL 3 A ROBOTIC ARM It comes with two important things: § The controller • The computer that drives its movement, and the § Teach pendant • The user interface that the operator uses to program the robot If you think of the controller as a conventional desktop tower, the teach pendant would be your monitor and keyboard. 4 2 1/3/23 INDUSTRIAL ROBOT COMPONENTS • What comes after the robot’s wrist, and what’s added around the robot, varies depending on the application. • But no matter the application, your robot will always need to be equipped with other components in order to work properly. • These components might include end-of-arm tools • grippers, welding, torches, polishing head, etc. • Sensors • force-torque sensors, safety sensors, vision systems, etc. • The robotic cell doesn’t only include hardware: • The controller comes with some pre-installed software, • but you will have to write the program : the list of instructions the robot will follow to perform a specific task. 5 ROBOT INSTALLATION • You’ll need to install the robot on your manufacturing floor by bolting it to a sturdy surface. • Installation might also involve adding part-feeding mechanisms, safeguards like protective fencing, and more 6 3 1/3/23 ROBOTIC CELL DEPLOYMENT PROCESS 7 Design Integrate • All the tasks needed to go from the manual (or original) process to having the plan and materials for the robotic cell. • Putting the pieces of the robotic cell together, programming it, and installing the cell on the production line Operate • Having a productive robotic cell that does its job properly on an ongoing basis THE ROBOTIC CELL DEPLOYMENT PROCESS 8 4 1/3/23 § When you buy a “robot” from a robotics company, you’re typically only getting the arm, controller and teach pendant: • Most robot companies do offer other hardware and software add-ons, but these don’t cover every possible application. WHO PROVIDES WHAT? § The first two phases—design and integrate—can be done by an in-house team working for the manufacturer that has bought the robot, or by external contractors called system integrators . § Of course, the buyer of the robot is responsible for operating it, so the third phase— operate—is done by the factory’s team. 9 FRAGMENTATI ON OF VENDORS I N THE I NDUSTRI AL ROBOTI CS I NDUSTRY 10 5 1/3/23 ROBOTIC CELL VS. ROBOTIC SYSTEM ROBOTIC CELL • Has a defined input, a process done by one operator, and an output ROBOTIC SYSTEM • can be a simple robotic cell, but it can also be much more complicated • It can include multiple robots, such as a production line station with 20 robots welding a car body simultaneously. • Very Complicated! 11 AMAZING ROBOTICS ARMS 12 6 1/3/23 ROBOTIC CELLS DEPLOYMENT Lecture 10 IE454– Industrial Robots Dr. Majed Moosa 13 HOW A JEEP WRANGLER IS MADE 14 7 1/3/23 WHAT’S WRONG WITH HOW ROBOTIC CELLS ARE DEPLOYED TODAY? Even today, with all the powerful robotics technology available and the number of important problems it can solve, the majority of manufacturing tasks are not yet automated. THE MAIN BARRIER TO ROBOTIC CELL DEPLOYMENT IS HIGH COST § For a typical project involving a single robot, you may have to pay • US$80,000 for a standard robot and its components. • Then a system integrator will add another US$170,000 for other materials and custom engineering. • In total, a turnkey solution ends up costing around US$250,000. 15 WHAT’S WRONG WITH HOW ROBOTIC CELLS ARE DEPLOYED TODAY? • At that price, the predicted return on investment (ROI) might not be high enough to justify the cost of automating a manual task. • The reason it’s so expensive is the complexity of robotic cell design and integration. Because of this complexity, a lot of costly project management, custom engineering, and specialized programming must be done. This is where the majority of the cost lies. 16 8 1/3/23 FOUR REASONS WHY ROBOTIC CELL DEPLOYMENT IS SO COMPLEX: 1. ROBOTS EVOLVED TO SUIT HIGH VOLUME, LOW-MIX APPLICATIONS The first reason is historical. Industrial robots were originally developed to serve automotive body manufacturers. Cars are produced in high volume, and because the products are so similar (low-mix) the same robot program can be used for several years. This means car manufacturers can amortize the cost of their custom system integration over the high number of cars made. 17 FOUR REASONS WHY ROBOTIC CELL DEPLOYMENT IS SO COMPLEX: 2.THERE IS A LACK OF STANDARDS IN THE ROBOTICS INDUSTRY The lack of standards across the highly fragmented robotics industry. Robotics standards are like toothbrushes: everyone agrees we should use them, but nobody wants to use someone else’s. As a result, each robot maker has its own unique controller and operating system. 18 9 1/3/23 FOUR REASONS WHY ROBOTIC CELL DEPLOYMENT IS SO COMPLEX: 3. ROBOTS DEAL WITH THE PHYSICAL WORLD Unlike computers, which deal with digital information, robots must deal with the physical world as well. The information world is clean. It’s made of bits, zeros and ones. The material world is messy. So even if robots had standardized hardware, communication protocols, and software, the fact is that the world around them can never be standardized. Today’s robots are good at following clear, repetitive and logical instructions. They’re not as good at dealing with unstructured environments or improvising new methods. For example, welding 19 FOUR REASONS WHY ROBOTIC CELL DEPLOYMENT IS SO COMPLEX: 4. MANUFACTURERS LACK EMPLOYEES WHO ARE SKILLED IN ROBOTICS One of the most common reasons why manufacturers don’t use robots is that they lack employees with the robotics skills to manage them. At many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), there are no in-house robotics experts. A lack of internal skills doesn’t just limit a company’s capacity to take on a big robotics project; it can limit its ability to get started with just one robot. 20 10 1/3/23 S KILLS YO U NE E D TO S U CCE S S F U LLY DE P LOY A ROB OTIC CE LL To successfully deploy a robotic cell, you need team members with robotics skills, project management skills, and a deep knowledge of your manufacturing process 21 • The good news is we already have the most critical piece of the puzzle: knowing what factory does that adds value for the customers. • The project management aspect is made easier when you use the lean robotics methodology. It clarifies the cell deployment steps and defines a common vocabulary, which will help you coordinate the project with different stakeholders. • Lean robotics will also help you pinpoint the technical robotics skills that your team needs to acquire for your specific business context. 22 11 1/3/23 THE CHAIN REACTION OF LEAN ROBOTICS. By reducing some of the complexity of deployment, we’re in turn removing part of the cost barrier, enabling you to automate more applications on your factory floor. 23 12