Agriculture Composite Panel Drilling and Cutting Robot System

Alliance Automation, LLC was asked by a customer to design and build a robot system that accomplished both cutting and drilling of a polyurethane high density structural reaction injection molded (RIM) material which is used in long fiber (LFI) technology.  This material is used in an open mold process with fiberglass reinforcement and is often used in molding panels for the heavy truck and agriculture industry.

There were a number of constraints on the project which included floorspace, flexibility and budget.  

Alliance Automation began with a reach study and simulation using the customer parts.  The final design was finished resulting in the compact robotic drilling and router cell shown below.  

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This system utilized a single Yaskawa Motoman GP25 robot with YRC1000 controller and a 24,000 rpm high power spindle with automatic tool change (ATC).  A common steel base and riser allow for the entire cell to be moved around the plant without the need to adjust or re-program the robot. High impact polycarbonate panels surround the machine protecting the operator.    

FormCut® robot software is used for easily programming different shapes such as Circles, Slots, Squares, Rectangles and more.  This software is similar to shape generation or Jetware from Fanuc.  

Up to eight (8) different tools are available.  A pre-programmed tool change routine with a broken bit check via laser sensor make it easy for users to program.  

To meet the customers budget, the system controls and safeties run through the robot controller with built in ladder logic and concurrent I/O.  Instead of a dedicated HMI screen, the teach pendant has a built in Interface Panel (IF Panel) display for operators with pushbuttons located on the guarding.

This is an example of another successful project by Alliance Automation.

Have a robot router or drilling application?  Contact us for more information.