Another new take on welding larger parts, typically out of the cobot’s reach, will be shown by Hirebotics and partner Kinetic Technologies LLC, launching RT1, a new cobot-controlled rotary table designed to maximize welding capacity. “The need for this system is two-fold,” says co-founder of Hirebotics, Rob Goldiez. “RT1 gives customers the ability to rotate the part to the front and back for welding. Secondly, it gives users with high volume production the ability to have separate load and weld stations; loading a part on one side while the cobot is welding on the other, increasing arc on time and throughput.”
UR cobots with Apera AI handle challenging bin-picking task.
Picking unstructured parts out of bins is another traditionally challenging task to automate. At FABTECH, UR will showcase a collaboration with Precision Cobotics, demonstrating how a UR5 cobot is able to pick a shiny metal part from a randomized bin and place it into a MECCO laser marking machine. The UR5 is guided by Apera AI’s new UR+ certified Vue Vision software that accurately locates and places the part. “Robotic bin picking systems often struggle with shiny or complex objects and usually have much longer cycle times than a human performing the same actions,” says Eric Petz, head of marketing at Apera. “The Vue Vision software provides the industry’s fastest total vision cycle time—as low as 0.3 seconds— and operates under ambient light using standardized cameras, so the user does not need expensive specialized equipment.”