Thursday, March 18, 2010

SafetyEYE® Monitors KUKA’s RoboTeam

KUKA RoboTeam in a jigless cell

A team of robots comprising two process robots and two handling robots welded the car door together in one work stage. Two jigless grippers combined to perform the geometric functions. The two gripper half shells were positioned by cooperating robots. The jigless bodyshop, therefore, is an innovative plant technology, which implements the very latest robot functionalities without the classic holding and clamping technology. The cycle time can be minimized through direct "geometric coupling". Autonomous control systems provide a high degree of flexibility. Cooperation between the team robots allows for highly flexible component positioning.

SafetyEYE® protects workers in the infeed areas
These days robots almost always work behind safety fences, screened from the application operator. New safety concepts such as SafetyEYE® help to do away with the fences and barriers that come between worker and robot. From above, SafetyEYE® simultaneously protects workers in both infeed areas independently. The operator enters the transfer area, where he is detected visually. This is safely recorded and the data is transmitted to the safety-related robot control system. The aim is to avoid a collision; this can be guaranteed by the robot's reduced traverse speed, based on the distance from the operator. As a result, the operator can insert the component directly into the robot's gripper. At the same time, the operator has free access and a clear view of the process.

 Safety and Economy in Harmony
The robot's drives are safely deactivated while the component is inserted. If the worker leaves the infeed area's danger zone, the robot will slowly start to operate. As soon as the worker has left the warning zone, production will run at full speed. A safe stop in the infeed area / running the robot down safely while the workers are still in the infeed area saves on cycle times. As well as safeguarding the infeed area, safe robots also guarantee personal safety within the jigless cell through the software. As the robots can now move about close to the safety fence, the production area can be reduced, allowing for a compact body plant.


KUKA Robotics is the North American subsidiary of KUKA Roboter GmbH, one of the world´s largest robot manufacturers. Since building its first industrial robot in 1977, KUKA has earned an international reputation for robotic excellence. Virtually all of the 80,000 robots installed in the field use our PC-based controller, making KUKA the number one PC-controlled robot manufacturer in the world. KUKA offers a complete range of advanced design robots, covering all common payload categories, from 3 kg to 1,000 kg. Within this range you can always get the exact robot you need for your particular solution. Our PC-based controllers are easily expandable and offer cutting-edge technologies such as remote diagnostics, Windows interface, icon editor, fieldbuses, SoftPLC, OPC server.

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