Voodoo Manufacturing operates a fast-growing 3D printer farm in Brooklyn, New York. The company's aim is to establish a competitive rival to established injection molding companies. In order to grow accordingly, the start-up wanted to automate the manual loading and unloading of its printers' printing plates as quickly as possible. Voodoo opted for the UR10 collaborative robot from Universal Robots, as it could be easily integrated into the peripheral systems of the printer farm in a very short space of time.

Today, the UR10 automatically takes over the loading and unloading of the printing plates, known as "harvesting". This task previously took up to ten percent of the total working time on the printer farm. The products produced with the help of the robots range from prosthetic hands to protective goggles for dogs. According to Voodoo Manufacturing, the application setup called "Project Skywalker" is the first 3D printer cluster ever to be operated with a robotic arm.

According to Chief Product Officer Jonathan Schwartz, the UR10 from Universal Robots was the best choice for Voodoo. "We were looking for a robotic arm that could handle the variety of tasks in our production. It had to be easy to program and we wanted to be able to install and commission it quickly."

Voodoo ultimately opted for the UR10 robotic arm from Universal Robots, which could be seamlessly connected to the Robotiq gripper via Plug&Play. The Brooklyn-based start-up printed its own attachments for the gripper, enabling it to pick up the printing plates. (Image: Universal Robots)

UR robots are collaborative, which means that they have built-in safety functions that automatically stop the robot arm when it encounters objects or people. Following a successful risk assessment, the cobots can work side by side with humans - without the usual protective housing for industrial robots. Schwartz: "Instead of a factory full of cordoned-off areas and potential sources of danger, by using the cobot we have created an appealing working environment in which humans and robots can work together."

With the help of the robots, Voodoo Manufacturing aims to develop 3D printing into a serious alternative to the more cost-intensive injection molding in the mass production of plastic parts. Voodoo Manufacturing's current three-year target is a cost reduction of 90 percent. The initial results, such as the increased production output and the simultaneous reduction in labor costs thanks to the first UR10, suggest that the robot will have paid for itself within six months.

The automation of harvesting was only the first step: "There are many more possibilities for automation in our factory, be it in the cleaning of workpieces, quality inspection or even packaging and shipping at some point. After all, automation with cobots does not destroy jobs. Rather, the UR robots free our employees from tedious tasks that they currently have to perform in our factory. This allows us to use them for more demanding work that requires more critical thinking."

At the moment, Voodoo can compete with short runs of injection-molded parts - but to remain competitive with larger quantities of, say, 100,000, the company needs to continue to pursue its automation strategy. In the long term, Schwartz envisions Voodoo expanding its operations to 10,000 3D printers.

For the Brooklyn-based company, automation is more than just a means of cutting costs. "It's the only way for us to survive and become a large company that employs hundreds or even thousands of people," says Schwartz. "Automation is our best chance to take on an industry as large and established as the injection molding industry." as