The plastic boxes, which are used to deliver the ceramic parts by type, are first turned gently by the Fanuc M710 robot, which has a load capacity of 50 kilograms. A movable lifting lid then slowly moves the components in the box to the output area. The robot, which has a Z-stroke, uses a rake to gently push the components, which are separated from each other by intermediate layers, onto a conveyor belt so that the inspection process can begin. Brush rollers are used to distribute them onto six tracks for the height-adjustable inspection table. Meanwhile, the cardboard inserts are temporarily stored by the Scara robot, which also has a vacuum gripper, for later return transportation and are picked up again later. The Fanuc robot also handles the empty boxes.

The new testing system is intended to ensure the quality standard in the production of parts for wind power and solar systems as well as fuel cells. It will also be used in the production of ceramic parts for medical technology and the aerospace industry.

According to the manufacturer, the major advantage of the MSA01906 is that it is not bound to any variant. It can be used to check components in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. The range extends practically from zero to a component size of 40 by 40 millimetres. The appearance of the ceramic parts to be tested is irrelevant. The limits, their tolerances and the outer contours of the component are taught in advance on the upstream set-up test station. This is done in different orientations. The system operator does not need any programming knowledge for this. He can save new part variants under a specific name and call them up again later.

Four conveyor belts for four tasks
The four conveyor belts for the small boxes have different tasks. One is used to deliver the ceramic parts to be tested, a second is for the parts that are OK and a third is for the parts that do not pass the test process. The empty boxes are placed on the fourth conveyor belt. These are weighed so that once they have been filled, the appropriate test weight can be used to determine whether the box has been filled with enough tested ceramic parts.

The outer contour is inspected using telecentric optics using the transmitted light method. Six cameras are used for this. For this purpose, the components move onto a plexiglass plate illuminated from below at a distance of 800 millimetres, which is mounted on a rotary indexing table. The cameras capture the contours from above. The good parts move along the discharge conveyor into the shovel gripper of the Omron/Yamaha XG600 robot, which in turn places them in an empty box. A maximum of ten layers, separated by the inserts, can be stacked on top of each other. The parts that are not in order fall through an airlock into the lower level. From there, they are disposed of in a box via a conveyor belt.

The PDA interface ensures that the system retrieves the correct production data from the system and transfers it to the Siemens S71500F PLC controller. The entire work cell was surrounded by a safety fence. Lifting gates can be used to separate the worker's work area from the actual work area of the system. The development time for the entire system, including preliminary tests and installation at the customer's premises, was 14 months. as