These Movidrive inverters from SEW-Eurodrive's Movi-C modular automation system supply the servomotors of the tripod robot from Seitec. © Pagec

"The recipes are stored in the unit's control system," explains Daniel Pfeffer, Head of Operations at Seitec. With just a few touch gestures on the control panel, a machine operator can adjust the system to a new workpiece within seconds. If a gripper needs to be changed, the machine prompts this in the same interface and parks the central robot in the appropriate position. "This takes maybe a minute in total," emphasizes Pfeffer, who is also the project manager and developed the concept. "This saves an enormous amount of time compared to systems that require intervention in various operating units on the machine for adjustments - especially when handling small batch sizes."

The heart of the system is the tripod robot, shown here without cladding. It is driven by servomotors from the CMP series with PxG gearboxes in the P5 version. © SEW

The heart of the system is currently a tripod robot with an additional rotary axis, which can be equipped with two different grippers as required. It is driven by four servomotors from the CMP series with PxG gearboxes in the P5 version for high dynamics. The workpieces are separated in advance. A camera, which is integrated into the overall system via Ethernet/IP, records the shape and position of currently around 130 different workpieces on the feed belt. In line with the latest technology, this no longer needs to be transparent, which simplifies handling and servicing. In addition, the pick belt and the place belt can be arranged at any angle to each other.

The system provides the standardized basis for the kinematics of the pick-and-place robot with four degrees of freedom. "We had to find a system for the extremely different geometries and sizes in order to separate the parts and then handle them correctly," explains Daniel Pfeffer. The customer's aim was to place several workpieces on a product carrier every second in preparation for the next work step. These objectives were achieved with the system.

Future-proof simplicity

"When a new workpiece is to be taught in, the system is configured in just a few minutes via the control panel using the intelligent UHX65 Movi-C controller from SEW-Eurodrive. The process is then saved as a new recipe," says Christopher Kühn, the second project manager for the new development. If the robot needs more degrees of freedom or a different camera at some point, each component can be easily changed thanks to the non-proprietary interfaces. They could then be integrated into the system with little effort using the kinematics data already available in the Movi-C controller. "Anything between two and six degrees of freedom is possible," adds Daniel Pfeffer. The feed belts with ten additional servomotors from SEW-Eurodrive are also controlled by the same controller, which in this way already has an internal image of the entire kinematics of the system. Because the robot and the belts form a system with the parts, the encoder information from the belts is received directly by the UHX controller. This means that the robot knows the encoder values and the positions of the belts. Up to ten robots, 2,000 products and 200 storage boxes can be managed.

Long-term availability and compatibility

Daniel Pfeffer (left) and Christopher Kühn are both project managers for the new development at Seitec. © Pagec

"SEW-Eurodrive's Erfurt technical office was involved in the development process right from the start," says its manager Frank Buchholz. "The long-term availability and compatibility of the components ensures a significantly longer service life for the handling unit." Seitec project manager Pfeffer adds: "Our concept could only be implemented with the possibilities of the Movi-C modular automation system." The developers emphasize the uncomplicated and rapid cooperation. This resulted in a lean and cost-effective overall solution that can be adapted for numerous pick-and-place requirements.

Thanks to the modular concept, Seitec can offer the robot as an individual product or as a complete solution. This includes engineering and customer-specific process adaptation, for example with individual feed systems. In the minimum expansion stage, a compact product solution with robot, controller and operating unit is also possible.