Cobot hand helping the assembly of washing machines
Putting the counterweight in a washing machine is literally and figuratively hard work for an operator. A custom cobothand is the solution. We were given the opportunity to engineer and build such a gripper for the Rossini project.
New ideas to improve human-robot cooperation in the production environment. That is the commitment of the international Rossini project. Together with twelve other companies, we are helping to shape new possibilities.
We were given the opportunity within Rossini to design a custom cobot hand. Specifically, to partially automate a specific step in assembling washing machines and dryers.
During that step, an operator must place a ballast weight in the machine. A flat, concrete block. That block serves to hold the machine in place during dry sweeping. Weight: 25 kilograms. And thus heavy and labor-intensive work for the operator.
The cobot gripper in action. With ballast weights in the green bin.
Cobot hand with combined gripper
We chose a combined gripper to ensure a perfect grip.
- First, the hand pneumatically grips and clamps the piece in the container.
- Then he lifts the weight.
- Finally, to position it correctly.
All the operator has to do is tighten the screws. Ready? Then he indicates that the task is finished by pressing a button on the gripper. That is the signal for the robot to return to the bin. To then grab a new weight.
De lichtsignalisatie aan de grijper. To optimize cooperation between man and machine, we provided custom light signaling. This way, the operator has a constant view of the robot’s status. There are two scenarios:
- Red means no cooperation with the operator is possible. The robot is operating at full speed.
- Green means the operator is allowed to intervene and perform operations.
Want to know more about the possibilities of custom robotic grippers for your production process?
About Rossini
Rossini stands for “robot enhanced sensing, intelligence and actuation to improve job quality in manufacturing.
It is a collaborative platform of 13 international industrial and academic partners. “The basis of the project is the European ambition to get manufacturing industry lost abroad back on European soil to the maximum extent,” says co-founder Joris Ceyssens. “A defining factor here is flexible automation, which stems directly from the Industry 4.0 story.” Want to know more about Rossini?
“In order to make products in an automated and at the same time very flexible way, it is crucial to make man and machine work together as well and, of course, safely as possible,” Joris concludes.