Glass is one of the most sophisticated materials. It is used in a wide variety of forms in German industry, the furniture sector and also in medicine. The particular challenge of this material lies not only in the fragility of the glass, but also in the production and forming of the material. Its processing therefore requires a high degree of process stability.

The forming of glass is only possible in a very narrow time window between the melt and the glass transition, and the cooling process must also be controlled and run through at a certain speed depending on the nature of the glass. When handling glass, even the smallest fluctuations in time and the associated temperature can therefore have an extreme effect on the result - a problem because human workers can hardly perform this task with exactly the same quality over a long period of time. Collaborative lightweight robots are a potential solution to this problem. The robots can carry out repetitive tasks with consistent quality over a very long period of time, thus ensuring the necessary process stability. Robert Hofmann, Managing Director of Hofmann Glastechnik, recognized this potential for improvement and found a suitable solution for his traditional company in the form of lightweight robots from Universal Robots: "Our employees used to load the glass lathes manually. Even short interruptions in the work process naturally caused the machines to cool down again and again. When we used the collaborative UR robots for this task for the first time, we suddenly got top results. That was a quantum leap forward. The quality of our glass components has improved enormously thanks to Universal Robots," emphasizes Robert Hofmann. The automation of the work process even led to a 50 percent increase in productivity in this area.

Flexible use without programming experience

In order to make the most of the advantages of machine colleagues, employees must be able to handle them easily. Simple operation and easy programming are therefore important factors; after all, existing skilled workers should be relieved and not burdened. If robots take over the monotonous tasks in operation, skilled workers can devote themselves to more demanding tasks such as the precise setting of the machines.

The robots are set up using a touchscreen tablet, allowing the required movement sequences of the UR robot to be defined quickly and intuitively. In "free-running mode", the user can simply grab the robot's arm and teach it new tasks by physically guiding it from waypoint to waypoint.

Grippers for every application

Once the robot has been set up for one task, this does not mean that it can now only be used for that task. Thanks to their lightweight and space-saving design, the collaborative robots can be quickly and easily converted for different applications.

In addition to glass, there are many other materials with very specific requirements for manufacturers. A fast-moving market environment and ever shorter product life cycles mean that electronics manufacturers have no room for error. Electronic components such as LEDs or printed circuit boards must be assembled with absolutely consistent precision and even the smallest impurities must be avoided. Otherwise, dust or organic residues such as grease can severely impair the service life of the products.

Regardless of the material, the gripper is always an important factor for successful automation, as it represents the interface between the robot arm and the material. The robot manufacturer lists all certified end effectors in its virtual showroom called Universal Robots+. Here you can select the respective robot and the task assigned to it and are presented with suitable solutions. From simple two-finger grippers to vacuum grippers and various sensor-supported solutions, the right end effector can be found here for every material. With the right gripper, lightweight robots can then easily automate even the handling of fragile parts and help to maintain competitive production through increased process stability, productivity and efficiency. ee