Robotics reimagined for job shops

With many job shops shying away from robots because of integration and programming difficulties, a machine tool builder has introduced a couple of products to offer an easier path to automation.

One offering from Okuma America Corp., Charlotte, North Carolina, is Armroid, a robot that is built into an Okuma America machine and can work inside it.

“Many companies build small kitted robots,” said Product Specialists Manager Wade Anderson. “The difference here is having something built by the machine tool OEM that comes married up with the machine and ready to run.”

The Okuma America-built Armroid is mounted inside a machine tool over the spindle. The result is a smaller footprint than those of conventional robot-machine combinations. Also, Armroid doesn’t require any robotic integration or guarding.

An Armroid-equipped machine looks like a lathe with an attached storage cabinet.

In addition to loading and unloading a machine tool, Armroid can spray coolant after replacing an end effector with a coolant nozzle. Image courtesy of Okuma America

“It’s not till you open the door and look inside that you realize, ‘Oh, my gosh, there’s a robot in there,'” Anderson said.

Creating a robot operating program normally requires special programming language skills that shop personnel may lack. Therefore, Armroid features a robot operation system that needs only interactive inputs of numbers.

“To me,” Anderson said, “the coolest thing about the Armroid is the programming aspect of it.”