MU 2017 November December

30 MACHINERY UPDATE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 www.machineryupdate.co.uk
PPMA Show Review
Smart light collar enables
users to see a cobot status
Collaborative working
between operator and
robot has been taken
to a new level thanks to an
accessory launched at the
PPMA Show by RARUK
Automation. YouRing is a
smart, programmable device
which can easily be mounted
to the robot tool flange to
give visual and audible
information on robot status.
Wireless connectivity and
the URCaps plug-in that is
supplied with the YouRing
makes this neat and clever
device easy to install; URCaps
is the accessory platform that
enables full integration into
Polyscope, the UR GUI for robot
programming and operation.
YouRing can then be freely
programmed to meet the
needs of the application and
the operator.
As well as indicating the
direction of travel, YouRing
can work to a user selectable
safety plan and, for example
communicate when an
object has been grasped or
assembled correctly or when
tolerance needs to be checked.
Pacepacker compared its
new pallet stacking software
against more traditional
robot teach pendants to show
visitors how customers are
already cutting the time
it takes to reprogram a new
pallet stack recipe by over
400% while reducing waste
caused by badly stacked
delivery pallets by 10%.
Writing the programming
code to modify a palletising
stack format using a robot
teach pendant can involve
more than 30 individual
The new light collar allows easy working between the operator and the cobot
A rainbow pallet and a
choice of coloured LEDs can
be assigned to different tasks
which can also flash and
create a rotating effect that
follows the movement of the
arm. Similarly, the pitch,
volume and frequency of the
buzzer can be adjusted for
various warning functions.
Buttons on YouRing enable
the free-drive mode to be
selected and execute specific
script functions such as
turn on a digital output or
manually re-activate the robot
after a task has been paused.
Certified by Universal
Robots for use on its entire
range of six-axis robot arms,
YouRing is compliant with
ISO:TS15066, the standard that
specifies safety requirements
for collaborative industrial
robot systems and the work
environment.
T 01462 670044
W www.rarukautomation.com
Latest stacking software was pitted against
robot teach pendants to prove time savings
jogging and coordinated
recording steps on a standard
5 fold pattern. With many
food factories performing
20+ recipe/stack changes
weekly, this trial and error
process has long been a drain
on resources and production
time, resulting in frequent
regular engineering callouts.
But by catering to fastchanging
product formats,
packaging shapes and sizes,
Pallet+ enables factory
operatives to change, store and
recall new or revised robotic
palletising and case loading
recipes in several minutes
versus over an hour with
usual robot teach pendants.
What’s more, it requires little
programming knowledge
to complete the process.
The company walked
visitors through the effort
involved in reprogramming
a standard five-fold pallet
stack using 600mm by 400mm
cases which took only
2 minutes 7 seconds.
T 01371 811544
W www.pacepacker.com
First time
visit seen as
a success
“This is the first time we have
attended the PPMA show and it
was an enormous success,” says
Mitsubishi Electric marketing &
operations group manager Chris
Evans. “Mitsubishi Electric’s
solutions for the packaging
industry address the full spectrum
of challenges facing the sector and
meet the needs of both machine
builders and end users,” he
continues. “Machine builders can
reduce development times with
improving functionality, while end
users benefit from machines that
increase productivity.”
Visitors to the stand were
able to learn about Mitsubishi
Electric’s commitment to the
OMAC PackML standard, with
demonstrations showing how
it brings benefits to machine
builders and end users alike.
Machine builders are increasingly
being asked to offer PackML
standardisation by packaging
customers, who see it as the
key to higher machine OEE with
faster throughput, faster product
changeovers and less scrap.
Mitsubishi Electric also showed
how it has invested in making
it easy to adopt the standard
by offering templates that are
PackML ready, saving time and
cost in system development.
These include pre-defined HMI
templates and ready-made
function blocks to speed up
configuration.
A further demonstration on
the stand covered GOT Mobile
for Mitsubishi Electric GOT series
HMIs, providing convenient
remote access to the HMIs via
webserver functionality.
T 01707 288780
W www.mitsubishielectric.co.uk