Robotic Cell
Contents
Basics
- A Type of Workcell utilizing Robots (Typically Robotic Arms ) as a part of it's operations, rather than a human worker
- Typically they take on the roles of Robotic Machine Tending and Robotic Materials Handling
- They can be used as a part of a Manual Mixed-Model Assembly Line containing human workers in conventional Work Cells in some steps, and Robotic Cells handling other tasks, or they can be used in a Automated Mixed-Model Assembly Line
- (Bit of terminology mess here, but essentially similar linear layout to an Assembly Line but they use often slow, if even constant, movement (some use Roller Conveyors (with additional automated "clamp downs" for each station) / passive sliding surfaces instead of a overhead conveyor/gantry as well ) to combine several Work Cells (essentially highly Ergonomic desks/tables with all needed tools/jigs removing need for walking and the associated Wasted Movement / Transit Time ( Lean Manufacturing and whatnot) ) and produce products in an efficient manner.
- Robotic Cells can replace some of (just the welding, or 3d scanning for QC etc) Work Cells or all of them
- Furthermore there are many terms for what to call this and it's a very fuzzy concept
- I did some edits on the wikipedia side of things / dug for info on this, but i need to move on ANYWAYS:
- (Bit of terminology mess here, but essentially similar linear layout to an Assembly Line but they use often slow, if even constant, movement (some use Roller Conveyors (with additional automated "clamp downs" for each station) / passive sliding surfaces instead of a overhead conveyor/gantry as well ) to combine several Work Cells (essentially highly Ergonomic desks/tables with all needed tools/jigs removing need for walking and the associated Wasted Movement / Transit Time ( Lean Manufacturing and whatnot) ) and produce products in an efficient manner.
- Allows essentially for Full Automation of many processes (Outside of Routine Maintenance / Shutdown Work , as well as any other jobs the robots cannot handle well)
Requirements
As described by This Page by the Company Robtiq Titled "5 Essential Robotic Cell Components" , the Five key components of a Robotic Cell are:
- The Robot(s)
- Tooling
- Sensors
- Safety Measures
- Software
OSE's Choices for These
- Unofficial as of now by the way obviously, just sketching out ideas
The Robots
- Universal Axis based Cartesian Robots
- Delta X and/or a Universal Axis Based Delta Robot
- Universal Robotic Actuator based Parallel Robots (Rotary Actuator (not universal axis/ballscrew) based Delta Robots / Five Bar Parallel Robots
=Robot Materials Feeding / Basic Superstructure/Cell
- Universal Robotic Machine Handling Cell (Can be in a fixed/bolted down version, and a mobile "cart" ?)
- Universal Robotic Materials Handling Cell (Can be in a fixed/bolted down version, and a mobile "cart" ?)
- Similar to these concepts:
Tooling
Sensors
Safety Measures
- E-Stop
- Lockout Tagout when people entering the enclosed "cage"
Software
Internal Links
- Open Source Automated Print Farm (A Similar Concept, although they tend to utilize Conveyor Belts / Gantry Robots / Delta Robots rather than robotic arms)
External Links
- A Direct Industry Page on Off The Shelf Turnkey Robotic Cells
- A Page by the Company Terra Automation on What Robotic Cells Are (And then advertising/mentioning of their products...)
- A Page by the Company Robtiq Titled "5 Essential Robotic Cell Components"
- A Video by the YouTube Channel "RobotWorx" Titled "Benefits of Robotic Workcells" (~1 Minute Watch)
- It gives a great definition, then discusses their products
- A Link to the Book by Robotiq and/or by Samuel Bouchard Titled Lean Robotics: A Guide to Making Robots Work in Your Factory (Book)
- A Page by "Robomaster" Titled "Defining your robotic cell with Robotmaster"
- A Page by "Robomaster" Titled "Robotic cell brings the power of modularity to machine tending
