DMG MORI has unveiled Robo2Go, a mobile automation system for lathes that is designed for easy programming using a smartphone app.
At the AMB trade show in Stuttgart in September, DMG MORI presented the implementation of an automated process chain from the web shop to the finished workpiece. The core of the integrated turning cell was Robo2Go, a new loading and unloading system for mobile use at up to four lathes.
Robo2Go includes a six-axis robot with up to 35kg load, and features barrier-free safety technology, and is programmed via a special CELOS app with just a few entries. Sylvio Krüger and Jürgen Groß, managing directors at DMG MORI Systems, discussed the new system.
How did you come to develop Robo2Go?
Thanks to the use of robotic technology, investment costs in the field of automation have dropped drastically in the past few years, so that small and medium-sized enterprises are now also turning their attention more and more to the indisputable quality and cost benefits such technology has to offer. Nevertheless, a certain degree of reluctance was still noticeable in this customer segment, due to a lack of knowhow in programming in the companies on the one hand, and on the other because the uncertainty of the robot not being used to full capacity remained too great a risk for those who might otherwise be interested.
And Robo2Go overcomes these hurdles in one innovative leap?
That’s right. Firstly, the Robo2Go system can be used flexibly on up to four lathes with the aid of a lifting device, which of course maximises investment security. Secondly, the system can be programmed on the control panel with just a few entries, which in turn minimises set-up times while optimising utilisation rates. All in all Robo2Go gives users a clear competitive advantage.
A robot programmed directly from the control is not really anything new. What in your opinion makes the Robo2Go solution so special?
The special feature is that the robot is not programmed from the control, but is parameterised simply via a special Robo2Go App from the DMG MORI graphic control and operation system CELOS. So the operator needs no knowledge of robots because once configured by our service the robot operates completely via CELOS. All the operator has to do is enter the dimensions of the workpiece, the chuck and the gripper, then select one of the pre-defined arrangements of the workpiece tray and finally start the automatic process. This innovative way of programming a robot enables especially smaller firms entry into flexible automation without the need of any expert knowledge.
What else sets Robo2Go apart from standard automation solutions already offered by DMG MORI?
Firstly, Robo2Go offers extremely inexpensive entry into automation. From the technical side it differs from standard automations in terms of its barrier-free safety technology. The use of an area scanner means that Robo2Go can do without protective fences. Instead the system stops as soon as a worker enters the defined stop area.
Did you have to make compromises where the speed of the robot was concerned in order to achieve barrier-free safety?
Robo2Go is not a collaborative robot solution. A faster working speed is possible for the robot because the human operator and the robot do not work at the same time in the action area. So all we had to do was reduce the dynamics of the robot slightly so that overall productivity of the system is hardly restricted at all. In view of the simultaneous gain in flexibility this is an excellent compromise.
What component range can Robo2Go handle?
We have robots on our range with load capacities of 10kg, 20kg and 35kg. The weights of workpieces in the case of a single grip – whereby the gripper can be adjusted without tools – are 5kg, 12kg and 22kg. Workpiece diameters are between 25mm and 125mm and lengths from 50mm to 250mm. The workpiece tray can be loaded with weights of up to 700kg, which adds up to a maximum capacity of 210 workpieces depending on diameters.