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A truly portable automated shop floor scanning solution
Robot adoption in the UK, especially within Industry has been very slow in comparison to other countries globally. This is partly due to complexity of set up, but a lot comes down to integration, health and safety and the costs that are associated with that. However, the world’s attention is now focused on a future that is guided by the concepts of ‘Industry 4.0 and a move towards an automated factory and is something that can’t be ignored.
To address this slow adoption of automated technology within UK Industry, MSL has developed the Robo SCAN-R for manufacturers, to help facilitate organisations take their first steps into automation and automated metrology and inspection. We believe that using the universal robot and a portable workstation is the most cost effective way forward to increase Robot adoption.
The Robo SCAN-R is an integrated solution utilising the Creaform HandySCAN with a 6 axis Universal Robot. This new ‘off-the shelf’ solution is completely integrated with a specially designed portable workstation, inclusive of rotary table.
Our vision for the Robo SCAN-R is to offer OEM’s, Tier one, Tier Two and SME’s access to automated quality control, at an affordable price. Simplicity in application is also of paramount importance, thus integration with the UR (UR5e, UR10e, UR16e) collaborative robot, allowing part programming in minutes.
This adaptable solution seemed to be the most logical way forwards to meet our initial objective whereby we can make automated metrology and inspection more accessible, but still have the flexibility of manual intervention.
The Creaform HandySCAN was chosen to form part of this solution because the sales growth and adoption of the technology as a truly portable handheld scanner has been incredible. All the benefits of the handheld scanner and portability now combined with blue laser technology, high resolution and high accuracy, means that we can now not only automate processes with The Robo SCAN-R, but as and when required it can still be used manually. Transitioning between the manual and automated systems is simple and takes less than a minute and with the use of a quick release clamp it means it can be up and running straight away.
Having the versatility to operate the HandySCAN manually, for reverse engineering applications and single component inspection, or quickly attaching the scanner to a robot for medium and high-volume inspection routines, provides our customers with the best scale-able solution on the market, with a more competitive ROI.
Simplicity was our Number 1 priority
Andrew Tagg, Managing Director at MSL commented: “When developing the Robo SCAN-R the question at the forefront of our minds at all times was “what are we trying to achieve?”. Our number one priority was always ‘simplicity’. We wanted to remove the perception that robot trajectory planning and creating inspection routines needs dedicated skills and training.
It’s common knowledge that for a number of years CMM’s have become a bottle neck, but yet still remain the ‘Gate Keeper’ in terms of accuracy and that will inevitably continue, but anyone contemplating moving into Industry 4.0 should really be considering the Robo SCAN-R as their first step towards automated metrology and inspection. Move it around your shop floor and integrate it into your production processes and you can then truly measure where you manufacture, with this portable, easy to use and cost effective solution”.
If you’re interested in seeing the Robo SCAN-R in action MSL have a complete web studio for demonstration purposes where we can show you the Robo SCAN-R online, with the option to send your components to us in advance for demonstration purposes or you can come and see it in action yourself at one of our 3 offices in the UK.
