Production robots are becoming versatile team players

Augsburg/Stuttgart, Germany, January 2006 – DaimlerChrysler’s reputation for producing excellent cars is based on advanced manufacturing methods. The company is now extending its lead in this area with “Cooperating Robots” (KIR), a revolutionary production technology which is being used for the first time anywhere in the world for DaimlerChrysler’s premium brand Mercedes-Benz. The innovative manufacturing system, developed in close cooperation with Augsburg-based KUKA Roboter, enables exactly coordinated teamwork between robots. This allows them to work faster, and with greater precision and versatility.

Since the start of the cooperation with KUKA Roboter in 2000, DaimlerChrys-ler has invested about three million euro in the project development. It was the car manufacturer that triggered the new concept; as a user of manufacturing technology and developer of vehicle innovations, the company has a complete overview of the production sequences and their requirements. The center-piece of the new system is the development of intelligent, Ethernet-based communication. New, high-performance software allows far more flexible and efficient robot operation. Put simply, the same robots can work faster, and with greater precision and versatility than before. Workpieces can now be ma-chined even while they are being transferred to the next assembly station. This means that the more “intelligent” machines are able to reduce the non-productive transfer times. Furthermore, cooperating robots can master more tasks – in other words, fewer systems are required for the same overall per-formance and DaimlerChrysler can reduce production areas by up to 20 per-cent and investment in manufacturing systems by about five percent.

Local networking creates highly productive “RoboTeams”

DaimlerChrysler and KUKA Roboter deploy up to 15 robots in RoboTeams set up in test configurations, and this figure is set to increase. This gives both companies a considerable advantage over the competition, which currently still operates with groups of four robots.

RoboTeams are used predominantly in production areas that are already highly automated. One advantage of this technology from DaimlerChrysler and KUKA is that each robot retains its standard controller. This is connected to a high-speed local network (Ethernet) via which the robots communicate with one another and synchronize themselves by means of so-called geometric cooperation. One robot is in control and the others follow its lead. People in this field therefore talk of it as a “master/slave technology”. This also simplifies the programming, which is only slightly more demanding than for convention-ally controlled industrial robots, irrespective of the size of the RoboTeam. An additional software development on the robot controller for collision avoidance makes the interplay between the machines even simpler and safer.

The advantage of as large a number of cooperating robots as possible be-comes apparent with longer production lines. These are usually divided into manufacturing cells, with four or five robots working in each. A transfer robot installed between two cells takes the workpiece from one cell and transfers it to the next.

Cooperating robots allow a manufacturing process that cannot be implemented with conventional production technologies: a handling robot picks up the workpiece while it is still being machined in the cell. While the workpiece is still being transferred, the robots from the next cell continue the machining processes in an “on-the-fly change-over”. Precondition: all machines are networked in a RoboTeam.

Motion brings advantages

The advantages of teamwork between several robots come to the fore in the case of complex workpieces or ones that need to be machined on both sides. Until now, due to their restricted mobility, robots were often only able to get to one side of these workpieces. If, for example, the robot had to carry out a spot weld at an awkward angle, it was necessary to remove the workpiece from the fixture, turn it to the desired orientation and re-clamp it, or install an additional work station. The situation was similar in cases where it was necessary to ma-chine the reverse side of the workpiece. In the RoboTeam, on the other hand, one robot holds the workpiece and moves it freely, while one or more robots perform the welding, adhesive bonding or other tasks. The process robot itself is mobile and changes its working position as required. The results of this change of perspective are optimally executed welds and adhesive seams and precisely positioned clinching, screw-fastening and weld spots.

Shorter production lines and fewer installations

There are further advantages of RoboTeam applications. For example, the optimum accessibility of the workpieces means that the number of process tools can be significantly reduced. And there’s more: cooperating robots en-able fully new plant layouts with shorter production lines and fewer costly in-stallations, e.g. for lifting large and heavy loads. In theory, several standard robots, each with a maximum payload of just 500 kg, can also be used to transfer much heavier vehicle bodies. The RoboTeams can also turn the vehi-cle bodies to any desired position so that they are more readily accessible for human and machine team members.

About the KUKA Robot Group

KUKA Roboter GmbH, Augsburg, is a member of the IWKA Aktiengesellschaft Group (Karlsruhe) and ranks among the world’s leading suppliers of industrial robots. Core competencies are the development, produc-tion and sale of industrial robots, controllers, software and linear units. The company is the market leader in Germany and Europe, and the number three in the world. The KUKA Robot Group employs about 2,000 people worldwide. Of these, 1,100 are employed in Germany, either at the KUKA Robot Group headquar-ters in Augsburg, or at various subsidiaries. In 2004, sales totaled 425 million euro. Over 20 subsidiaries provide a presence in the rest of Europe, the US and Asia.

http://www.kuka.com

This release was published on openPR.