Cobot Feeder: We Built It, Use It, and You Can Too!
The main catalyst for the creation of the Cobot Feeder was the current and growing labor shortage problem. As with other manufacturers and business sectors, that problem was further worsened by the pandemic. To circumvent this labor problem, PBC Linear did what some small to medium-sized enterprises are doing: we installed cobots. After a short trial period, we soon found inefficiencies when running that technology by itself, mostly in the form of downtime and operator maintenance. Our team of engineers accepted the challenge of devising a machine that would get the cobots running longer, with less manpower.
The result is the Cobot Feeder. In essence, the Cobot Feeder increases cobot production while using existing manpower. Below is the third installment of three short videos that explore the benefits of the Cobot Feeder. The videos also provide a platform for one of our product engineers to discuss their experiences developing and implementing the Cobot Feeder. The adage we like to use is, We built the Cobot Feeder for ourselves first, and now we’re commercializing it. Here are the takeaways from these three videos.
"Drop in the Cobot Feeder where you need it, and immediately start using it."
Easy to install, program, and operate
Installation: For the initial install of the Cobot Feeder system, there is some electrical and integration engineering required to get the robots and CNC machines communicating. This includes having a general understanding of the wiring within CNC machines, and then pulling the correct relays and confirming the M-codes are working. Once everything is hard-wired and synched, using the cobot and Cobot Feeder is relatively easy.
Parts processing: A typical changeover includes replacing the parts trays, loading the program, and depending on the part, swapping out new cobot grippers. While each new part will have its own unique programming, once that is saved in the system it can be easily accessed and reloaded. For new parts, writing code involves positioning new points on the cobot and reconfiguring that into the machine. This can take up to thirty minutes and sometimes more depending on the complexity of the CNC machine.
Machinist Roles: Within the Cobot Feeder system, machinists expand their responsibilities and become managers, moving from station to station and checking the quality of the parts. Here, repetitive tasks are reduced while efficiency is increased.
"Repeatability issues are the number one killer of successful cobot operations."
Lessons learned
Standardized codes: One of the issues we ran into when implementing cobots was the problem of multiple engineers programming the robots in several different styles. This lack of consistency led to confusion and much longer programming. To remedy this, we started enforcing standardized ways to code the cobots, creating uniform templates.
Repeatability: The number one killer for successful cobot operations is lack of repeatability. For our development team, this was a key problem that our Cobot Feeder needed to address. For example, when the Cobot Feeder removed the finished parts tray and pulled the next tray in line, it needed to return the tray to the same exact position. After several iterations, we were able to fine tune the Cobot Feeder to run without any supervision.
Efficiency: The payoff is extremely high cobot efficiency. Machine operators can set up 17 trays to run overnight for continuous, lights out cobot production!
"Lights-out production is setting up a machine at the end of a shift and then going home for the day."
Lights-out production
Lights-out production is setting up a machine at the end of a shift and then going home for the day. The next morning, the entire job is done. Without a Cobot Feeder, a cobot may only run for thirty minutes to an hour with a single tray. With our Cobot Feeder, cobots can continuously cycle through seventeen trays and achieve overnight productivity.
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