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With the mission to create secure human-robot collaboration in mass manufacturing, Blue Danube Robotics is continually in search of methods to improve commonplace industrial robots to fenceless collaborative functions. Fenceless functions allow human employees and robots to collaborate on duties whereas sustaining the required security. By way of sensors, robots can robotically flip off when a security hazard is detected, serving to to streamline the workflow and scale back pointless downtime.
Based mostly in Vienna, Austria, the corporate produces add-on security sensor options for robots to make medium-sized and huge corporations extra environment friendly and productive whereas additionally prioritising security precautions.
The patented AIRSKIN expertise by Blue Danube Robotics is a sturdy, pressure-sensitive pores and skin straight mounted onto commonplace industrial robots. What makes AIRSKIN distinctive is its potential to be customised to robots with many various sizes, shapes, and capabilities. Greater than only a pores and skin, the answer affords palletising, visible inspection, and machine tending functions that assist completely different prospects discover the very best match for his or her robots. AIRSKIN works to supply for all sorts of circumstances by making a extra environment friendly office in every single place.
CHALLENGE:
Creating simple to wash, customised components
Early prototypes of AIRSKIN fashions had been made utilizing numerous processes and supplies, together with formed open-cell foam coated with polyurethane, and roto-casted shells later full of open-cell foams.
Blue Danube Robotics surveyed the 3D printing marketplace for years and examined out greater than 20 completely different printer producers and half producers to supply the completely different components of the AIRSKIN mannequin. Given that each AIRSKIN mannequin for every shopper is completely different, Blue Danube Robotics needed a producing technique that may enable for low-volume customized manufacturing of every piece.
Blue Danube Robotics labored with Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) to create AIRSKIN fashions earlier than exploring the Carbon Digital Gentle Synthesis (Carbon DLS) course of to print pads of AIRSKIN.
Whereas SLS labored nicely for creating bigger components, Blue Danube Robotics discovered Carbon DLS expertise to be excellent for designing and producing smaller pad sensors and numerous extra components used within the AIRSKIN mannequin, together with mounting brackets, magnet holders, and cable clips. Blue Danube Robotics discovered that SLS supplies weren’t elastic sufficient to create tiny components. Eradicating mud residue in SLS components in the course of the cleansing course of was typically difficult or not possible.
SOLUTION:
Reaching a excessive degree of accuracy and consistency
The manufacturing course of for an AIRSKIN mannequin entails the creation of a number of half teams, together with the massive pads on the skin, the help construction (help layer) on the robotic, the cabling, and mounting.
The varied mounting brackets that help the position of the pads on the robotic space are a significant part of the AIRSKIN mannequin. To efficiently create an ideal match for transferring robots, all of those parts should be designed collectively. Whereas Blue Danube Robotics goals to make use of standardised components for manufacturing, new components typically should be created because of the customisation required.
Utilizing Carbon DLS, Blue Danube Robotics achieved the accuracy wanted within the complicated parts of components. Particularly, the small sensors for AIRSKIN require a wall thickness of 0.8–0.9mm to permit them to detect forces about 0.5 newtons (50g)—a requirement that wasn’t doable to satisfy with different 3D applied sciences.
For the varied AIRSKIN half parts to clip collectively, an ideal match is important. Blue Danube Robotics wanted to make sure that they may simply clear components to take care of the integrity and performance of the piece. When utilizing SLS, Blue Danube Robotics discovered mud residue on components even after the cleansing course of, which affected half match. Carbon DLS expertise produces components with a superior floor end, permitting Blue Danube Robotics to create components with an ideal match persistently.
Moreover, Carbon software program allowed Blue Danube Robotics to make fast and straightforward modifications to customized components in the course of the design and manufacturing. As an alternative of getting to recreate the completely different components from scratch after every testing course of, Blue Danube Robotics may make edits straight on the latest design of components.
Supplies to help completely different half wants
The big selection of 3D printing supplies out there within the Carbon materials portfolio allowed Blue Danube Robotics to discover many choices for creating the varied half parts in AIRSKIN. After intensive testing between Carbon supplies and different 3D supplies, Blue Danube Robotics selected to make use of Carbon EPU 41, EPU 40, and UMA 90.
For AIRSKIN pads, Blue Danube Robotics required excessive resiliency and wanted a fabric that had robust flexibility, together with ample tear resistance to resist an industrial setting. Carbon EPU 41, a extremely elastic, tear-resistant, and energy-returning elastomeric polymer, met all of Blue Danube Robotics’ standards.
For the AIRSKIN cable mounting for industrial robots that present cable routing from the controller to the device connected to the robotic, Blue Danube Robotics wanted a versatile and robust materials to help zip tie holes within the design. Blue Danube Robotics chosen Carbon EPU 40 for its materials properties much like EPU 41 and black color choice.
Blue Danube Robotics chosen Carbon UMA 90 materials, a one-part resin, for the mounting brackets, for its potential to print a number of components on the similar time rapidly. The traits of UMA 90 allowed Blue Danube Robotics to iterate swiftly via half designs to optimise for straightforward cleansing and post-processing.
Streamlining customisable low-volume manufacturing
Managing the customisation required for every order is among the most difficult components of the manufacturing course of for AIRSKIN, making it essential for Blue Danube Robotics to discover a expertise that allowed for versatile and scalable low-volume customized manufacturing. The Carbon DLS course of and Carbon M2 3D printer enabled customized items to be printed at low volumes and helped pace up the event course of considerably.
It took Blue Danube Robotics as much as per week to design and produce a customized half piece with different applied sciences. Utilizing the Carbon DLS course of allowed Blue Danube Robotics to ship components in at some point, for higher buyer satisfaction and the elevated compatibility of robots with Blue Danube Robotics’ AIRSKIN expertise.
“Working with Carbon DLS expertise and the high-quality supplies out there via Carbon allowed us to optimise the manufacturing of our AIRSKIN expertise and helped us to realize the necessities for particular items. Carbon helps to allow the way forward for fenceless collaborative functions via the power to create higher designs in much less time.” – Andreas Baldinger, CEO, AIRSKIN
RESULT:
With Carbon DLS expertise, Blue Danube Robotics can present speedy prototyping in-house and rapidly produce customized components for industrial merchandise to assist obtain the objective of accelerating a broad vary of fenceless functions for robotics. Blue Danube Robotics continues to create components with an ideal match and persistently seems to be for methods to combine Carbon expertise in new functions after the profitable collaboration in producing the AIRSKIN mannequin.
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