Fluri Präzisions- und Mikromechanik is one of the leading Swiss companies in the field of high-precision micromechanics. In addition to contract manufacturing, the company also manufactures its own products. Staveb Automation carried out the implementation of the cobot when a collaborative robot was introduced for use in production.

Repetitive and monotonous work steps

The Fluri team had several reasons for introducing the cobot in the production of shafts and sleeves: Deburring and cleaning the components are repetitive and very monotonous work steps. In addition, these are time-consuming activities, but they are very important for the functionality of the end product.

The quality of the work steps carried out is therefore all the more important, especially when large quantities need to be delivered at short notice. Fluri therefore wanted to make these processes independent of time and capacity and was looking for a fully automated solution.

High precision essential

"We manufacture both preliminary products for high-precision measuring systems, so these work steps have to be carried out very precisely and accurately," explains Managing Director Stefan Fluri. The solution was found by Philipp A. Walden from Staveb Automation. The decisive factor was that both components are machined in different versions on the same system.

Walden explains: "At Fluri, we use the collaborative TM robot from Omron. This has an integrated image processing system and a wide field of vision. Thanks to the modern lighting technology, flawless object recognition is possible under all conditions."

Cobot in core production

In sleeve production, the cobot picks up a sleeve, positions it and loads it onto a lathe, which removes a burr inside the sleeve and brushes out the machining residues. The solution from Staveb Automation controls the collet chuck and the turret arm with the various tools.

The cobot then picks up the sleeve again and places it in a box. In the case of the shafts, the cobot picks them up, changes the grip position and places them on a blower to blow residue out of the internal thread. The shaft is then neatly palletized in six different washing baskets.

Standard gripper

The robot is equipped with a standard gripper with product-specific fingers. Thanks to the plug-and-play software, it is ready to start immediately and can also be used in other fields of application. By using a standard Schaublin 102 lathe with gripper and standard turret, the employees feel safe and had no training difficulties.

With the Cobot, Fluri uses a vibratory conveyor to transport the individual parts to the pick-up position. After initial difficulties in recognizing the reflective parts, the lighting and optics were adapted. "Due to our time capacities, these two production steps in shaft and sleeve production are carried out autonomously and independently of personnel planning. Thanks to Staveb Automation's extensive technical experience, we were able to draw the right conclusions in terms of functionality," emphasizes Fluri.