Universal Robots Conquers New Automation Frontiers at Automate 2022

Exhibiting at North America’s largest show for automation technologies, Universal Robots is ready with a cobot cure for a broad new range of complex applications. These provide new opportunities for manufacturers who are plagued by the inability to ramp up production that requires complex TIG or laser welding processes as well as hard-to-staff tasks such as machine tending, dispensing, labeling and screwdriving.

Adding new meaning to the term ‘Universal’, the characteristic light-blue jointed collaborative robot arms from UR will be spotted hard at work in more than 30 booths throughout Automate 2022, taking place in Detroit, MI, June 6-9.

Exciting new applications featured at Automate:

New collaborative TIG and laser welding systems meet stringent quality demands
At Universal Robots Automate booth #1432, Cobot Systems, a UR Certified Systems Integrator (CSI), is launching the first commercially available IPG LightWELD laser welder to be guided and controlled by a cobot.

Another new weld solution comes from UR CSI Melton Machine & Control Company, showcasing an enhanced version of the market’s first cobot-powered cold wire feed TIG welder, that enables the cobot to add both fusion and filler material to thinner material as it travels.

For the first time at a North American show, UR will reportedly feature a press brake tending application at its booth. The Press Brake Operator Package from Mid-Atlantic Machinery showcases a UR10e on a modular parts cart with a machine tool interface and a zone safety scanner that ensures shop safety.

Manufacturers looking for everything needed to successfully automate a CNC mill will be intrigued by VersaBuilt’s UR+ certified Mill Automation System with a MultiGrip automation work-holding that allows machinists to easily add new parts. The Mill Automation System is a standard automation system that requires no robot expertise or robot programming to use.

UR’s application-diverse booth features zones for not only welding and machine tending but also assembly and packaging application areas. In the assembly zone, companies with the need to automate high-torque processes will get a hands-on demo on how UR+ partner Estic’s screwdriving solution can handle these tasks, using a patented pulse technology, which significantly reduces torque reaction and the wear on cobot joints.

For assembling parts that require an adhesive, Robatech will offer 360° Gluing, a UR+ Integration Kit that connects a UR+ cobot with Robatech’s adhesive application systems. The integration kit includes a holder for the application head and attachments for the heating hose on the cobot arm. Settings for the heating hose, the application head, and the melter can also be made easily using the cobot touch pad.

The Robot Label Applicator from UR CSI Kolinahr showcases a UR10e in a tricky application, applying a label to the inside of a roll core. This demonstrates the dexterity of 6-axis UR cobots, which can reach places that are challenging for their human colleagues. Also in the packaging zone are UR+ partner Robotiq’s new Palletizing Solution that redefines ease-of-use, and the box EZ by Flex-Line powered by the UR5e cobot that erects multiple sizes of boxes.

To ensure that the quality of manufacturing processes never fails, UR+ partner 3D Infotech will show automated robotic inspection solutions.,3D Infotech will feature its cobot-powered UMA Smart Station that can run complete 3D inspection tasks with a single click; Spotlight AR++, an augmented reality software for manufacturing environments; and PartID, a machine vision tool that allows non-technical operators and engineers to quickly validate the position and shape of an object.

Besides the many hands-on encounters at the show, attendees can also learn about cobots at Automate’s conference agenda that includes UR-led presentations on “Top 10 Questions to Ask a Cobot Supplier,” “Cobots & Welding,” and “Connecting Automation to Business Challenges.”

For more information, visit https://www.universal-robots.com.