As part of this thesis, we developed a robotic solution for the company RLS
merilna tehnika d.o.o., enabling automated gluing of magnets into aluminum
housings. By robotizing this process, we increased the productivity of the production worker while simultaneously increasing the capacity of the production
line.
The first challenge we addressed was how to control the robot with enough
precision so that it could accurately position the magnet into the opening. The
most successful solution we identified was positioning the housing onto the magnet
from an inclined angle.
The second challenge was the robot’s cycle time. For the solution to be economically viable, the cycle time needed to be shorter than the manual execution
of the same task, which was approximately 14 seconds per product, according to
our calculations. By the end of the thesis, we achieved a cycle time of around
eight seconds per product.
The third and greatest challenge was performing tasks in parallel, as the
magnets require 30 minutes to dry before the robot can transfer them to the
output tray. If the magnets are dried for less time, there is a risk of poor adhesion,
resulting in a substandard product. During these 30 minutes, the robot can
perform other tasks. We solved this challenge by adding a second tray, which the
robot fills while the first tray is drying.
The fourth challenge involved applying the adhesive and cleaning excess glue
from the housing. After 30 minutes of drying, the magnets need to be wiped and
placed on the output tray. To minimize the impact on cycle time, we wiped and placed 12 magnets at a time.
The fifth challenge we addressed was the system’s safety, ensuring it met the
safety standards required before the process could be implemented in production.
The final product consists of three parts. The first part is the software solution
in URScript, developed using the UR5e robot’s teach pendant. The second part
is a test graphical interface, created in the Python programming language using
the Tkinter library. The third part is the safety solution and configuration of the
Pilz PSENscan sensor.
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