Is My Process Actually Appropriate?

Screwdriving is the second-most frequent meeting activity. However additionally it is a tiresome job with many issues when executed manually. Automated screwdriving affords a extremely efficient answer… however provided that your activity is appropriate.

Meeting is a core exercise for a lot of producers and screwdriving is an especially frequent operation. In keeping with analysis, the one meeting activity that’s extra prevalent than screwdriving is peg-in-hole.

There are many nice causes to automate your screwdriving activity, together with improved consistency, lowered damage to staff, and excessive accuracy.

The issue is that not all screwdriving duties are appropriate for automation.

If you choose the mistaken activity — or the mistaken kind of computerized screwdriving machine —you might find yourself with an computerized screwdriving system that does not fit your wants.

What kind of automated screwdriving system do you want?

Folks typically get the mistaken thought on the subject of automated screwdriving. They assume that there are solely two choices: handbook screwdriving or full-scale automation.

In actuality, there are a number of choices for automated, or semi-automated, screwdriving. Any of those may be appropriate on your wants. Which answer is finest is determined by your scenario.

Three frequent choices are:

• Full computerized screwdriving machine — These are a sort of standard automation. In order that they are typically large, cumbersome, and costly. They embrace fastened spindles and fixtures that carry out precisely the identical screwing operation each time. They are perfect for high-volume manufacturing with easy screwdriving duties that by no means change.
• Auto-screw feeder with handheld nutrunner — That is one step up from handbook screwdriving with an electrical screwdriver. The operator holds the nutrunner of their hand, which supplies excessive torque to the screw. The automated facet comes from the screw feeder, which routinely feeds the nutrunner with screws.
• Robotic screwdriving — Collaborative robotic screwdriving affords the most effective of each worlds. It’s nearly as versatile as handbook screwdriving for some duties however has the excessive consistency of standard automation.

Earlier than you’ll be able to assess your specific screwdriving activity for suitability, you have to to resolve which of those 3 forms of automation you want.

5 elements that make a screwdriving activity difficult for automation

What makes a screwdriving activity simple or troublesome for automation?

If you find yourself manually screwdriving, you won’t discover that the duty is definitely fairly complicated. Deceptively complicated.

Robotics researchers broke the duty of screwdriving down into its part components to seek out which have been probably the most difficult.

Listed below are 5 elements that make a activity difficult for automated screwdriving:

1. Unclear understanding of your screwdriving activity

The primary problem comes earlier than you even begin deploying your automated answer. There are numerous automated screwdriving options in the marketplace. All of them share related properties, however some will likely be extra appropriate on your wants than others.

If you do not have a transparent understanding of your screwdriving activity, this may make it very arduous to discover a good answer on your wants.

2. Screw shelling out

One problem with automation is that all the things must be introduced in a managed, constant method. For instance, a screwdriving robotic requires that the screws are introduced in precisely the identical location and orientation each time.

A typical answer for that is to make use of a screw feeder. This ensures that the robotic will all the time obtain a screw in the correct method. The Robotiq Screwdriving Resolution contains the Robotiq SF-300 Screw Feeder for this objective.

If every of your assemblies requires dozens of various screw varieties, shapes, and sizes, it turns into loads tougher to dispense the screws correctly.

3. Uncommon, nonferrous screws

A associated drawback is transporting the screw from the feeder to the work house. You don’t need the screw to fall from the robotic’s finish effector when it is in movement. This might result in an incorrectly assembled product.

With ferrous screws, the robotic can preserve maintain of the screw utilizing a magnetic tip. Nonetheless, this does not work for all screw varieties.

In case your activity makes use of an uncommon, nonferrous kind of screw, you may battle to automate it simply.

4. Unusual or complicated screw alignment

Probably crucial and difficult facet of automated screwdriving is alignment. The screw have to be completely aligned with the bolt or gap. Whether it is incorrectly aligned, faults like cross-threading can happen, ruining the workpiece.

Your chosen automated screwdriving system ought to be capable to precisely place and align the screw, in addition to account for errors.

In case your screws are very troublesome to align for some motive, it could be arduous to automate the duty with out including further parts or fixtures.

5. Extreme torque required

There are three fundamental phases to any screwdriving movement: Alignment, rundown, and tightening.

Within the ultimate tightening step, the automated system applies torque to the screw, fixing it firmly in place. Your system ought to be capable to help the torque required. For instance, the Robotiq Screwdriving Resolution can apply torques as much as 4 Nm.

In case your screws require very excessive torques, they’ll want specialist nutrunners to account for this.

Tips on how to assess your screwdriving activity for suitability with a robotic

There are some clear indicators {that a} screwdriving activity is appropriate for automation.

Some good guidelines of thumb if you assess a activity for robotic automation are…

• The half could be fixtured
• The duty is easy
• Just one human is changed
• Makes use of a single kind of screw
• You could have operator buy-in
• Further ground house is accessible
• Has a excessive impression

You may study extra about these in our articles Tips on how to Appraise Potential Duties for Robotic Screwdriving, and 10 Properties to Search for in a Robotic Screwdriving System.

To seek out out in regards to the Robotiq Screwdriving Resolution go to our product web page.

Which of your screwdriving duties do you suppose may very well be appropriate for automation? Inform us within the feedback under or be a part of the dialogue on LinkedIn, Twitter, Fb, or the DoF skilled robotics neighborhood.