Mobile robot automation

By WFL Millturn Technologies GmbH & Co. KG

Automation tasks are becoming ever more challenging. Using intelligent software in combination with the relevant automation solutions not only enables workpieces to be loaded and unloaded but means that machine tools can be set up fully automatically through automatic replacement of tools and clamping devices.

Our subsidiary FRAI Robotic Technologies strives to be an innovative automation partner and therefore is developing highly flexible robotic systems to respond to this trend. Concepts like the mobile­CELL are a first and enable a wide range of expansion stages, making them as future-proof and competitive as possible.

Different industries, series production, small batch sizes, a wide variety of machine tools and the uncertainty of many manufacturers as to whether a current product still will be in vogue next year or will become a slow seller — all this calls for flexibility in production. For automation, this means keeping pace with increasing demands: It must produce autonomously around the clock, be flexible to use and be Industry 4.0-compliant. In addition to the classic changeover of parts, automation takes on other tasks, such as tool changing, part transportation, logistics, host computer functions, part tracking and product history.

Customers increasingly are looking for holistic solutions, such as the mobileCELL. Image courtesy of WFL Millturn Technologies

The more complex the task, the more elements you need from the “know-how kit.” That is what FRAI calls the solutions that already have been implemented successfully in practice and have been proven to work under real production conditions. The company has developed a large number of kit elements: parts and position recognition, bin picking, reading and inscribing a data matrix code, parts contour monitoring, automatic gripper exchange, jaw changes and more. Depending on the task, FRAI also has a network of partner companies that cover other aspects, such as host computer solutions.