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Author Archives: Ben

When is a Cobot Not?

Sunday, 20 January 2019 10:18
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Cobot’s are robots designed to work side by side with humans on the plant floor and currently there is a boom in the collaborative robot market.

However, there are two common adjustments customers make that effectively change their cobot to a robot.

  1. The gripper or end effector of the robot does not meet the safety criteria for a cobot.  If this add on device is not as safe as the robot then additional safety devices must be added and you effectively have just another robot.  For example:  If you put a flamethrower, or other dangerous tool on the end of a cobot it ceases to become a cobot.
  2. If the standard default collaborative speed or force settings are over ridden your cobot becomes just another robot.  This happens in some cases when a customer realizes they don’t have the speed they need to achieve their cycle time requirements.

Should this be a reason not to purchase a cobot?  Absolutely not, when you purchase a cobot you usually get the benefits of a robot at no extra charge along with future added flexibility.  Just be aware that the cobot you take out of the box may need to be treated like a robot if you make changes like those above.

Five things to consider when integrating robots with machine vision inspection.

Sunday, 20 January 2019 03:42
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When do you want to use machine vision exclusively and when should you pair a camera with a robot?  Consider these factors:

  1. Cost.  Simply analyze all the areas where machine vision may be desired in an inspection process.  Then compare the cost of hardware for multiple cameras verses a single camera and a robot.
  2. Evaluate Cycle Time.  Typically, short cycle times drive dedicated cameras that can work in parallel as opposed to a robot/camera solution that will perform sequential inspections.
  3. Fixture Changes.  How often do fixtures or part families at the inspection station change?  Higher numbers typically favor robot integration.
  4. Required Accuracy.  This is usually evaluated on a case by case basis, however high-resolution requirements or measurements often favor dedicated cameras.
  5. Positional Accuracy over time.  Large robots in particular can be impacted by a variety of factors that can impede their use with vision.  Large fixtures that are changed regularly require extra and additional controls to maintain the systems accuracy.  Environmental factors that impact the robot become increasingly significant as the volume of the inspection area increases.

Special UL Approved Power Supplies:

Saturday, 19 January 2019 11:18
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Are your employees getting the best Return On Investment (ROI) at trade shows?

Thursday, 17 January 2019 05:39
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Employers are often trying to understand their Return on Investment when they send employees to shows.  Are your employees actively working on their ROI at the show? What is the payback?

We have all seen the show calculators provided by trade shows that employees should fill out to justify going to the event.  Sometimes the results are obvious when a supplier or solution is found for an existing problem in an organization.

What about the other times when no obvious solution or answer was found at the show?  Are you training your employees to maximize their ROI while at the convention, or event?

Here are a few ideas:

Be a mentor at the show.  Have your new or less seasoned employees shadow you as you engage new contacts and people. 

Have your more seasoned employees keep a list of every “person” they talked to at the show.  You want people engaging at the show, not just walking up and down the aisles.

Many people have a natural aversion to talking to others at shows.  Why?  Maybe its because everyone there is selling something.  When our company goes to shows we try to develop what might be thought of as counterintuitive instincts.  We try to talk to as many people as possible while also pursuing quality conversations. 

When you do this, you find that many times you may benefit in ways not associated with the product in the booth.  Maybe you don’t have a need for a product but as you learn more you realize you know a company that does have that need.  And sometimes… people who didn’t know about you or your companies’ product realize they might need to talk to you because you can help them or one of their industry peers solve their problem!

High Pot Tester

Wednesday, 16 January 2019 10:37
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This is a video of a high pot tester that is being verified with a series of test switches which check things like ground faults and high potential failures: