FANUC America Corp. yesterday said it will demonstrate its latest industrial automation and collaborative robots for warehousing and logistics at ProMat next week. The company will be exhibiting at Booth N7520 from March 20 to 23 in Chicago's McCormick Convention Center.
“FANUC’s demonstrations will offer attendees creative ideas that incorporate automation and robotics to solve today’s challenges to increase efficiencies and help offset the labor shortage,” stated Anthony Cantrell, executive director for warehouse and logistics at FANUC America.
“Key benefits to automation include improved order accuracy, higher warehouse productivity, lower operational costs, and less ergonomic issues,” he said.
Rochester Hills, Mich.-based FANUC America is a subsidiary of Japan-based FANUC Corp. The company said it provides CNC systems, robotics, and ROBOMACHINEs, as well as expertise to help manufacturers maximize reliability and profitability.
FANUC to demo growing CRX cobot line
FANUC claimed that its expanded series of CRX collaborative robots can run for eight years without maintenance. Interactive programming enables users to teach points using hand guidance or a Tablet TP (teach pendant) with drag-and-drop icons, said the company.
The latest CRX cobots complement FANUC’s existing lines of CR and CRX cobots that now total 11 model variations. They can handle products weighing from 4 to 35 kg (8.8 to 77.1 lb.). The automation provider said it plans to display the following cobot applications:
Order fulfillment, bin transfer, and shelving: ProMat visitors can use a Tablet TP to select from a variety of consumer items to pick orders. One of two CRX-10iA cobots with an iRVision 3DV/200 vision sensor mounted on its arm will scan QR codes on a shelf and on the items to confirm that correct products are picked and transferred to a bin on a table.
Next, a CRX-20iA/L cobot will use the same sensor to locate a full bin and place it on a Locus Robotics autonomous mobile robot (AMR). The cobot will then find an empty bin on the AMR and place it on the table.
The AMR moves from the order-fulfillment area to the shelving side where the CRX-20iA/L picks an empty bin and places it on the AMR and moves the full bin to a table.
Finally, a second CRX-10iA with a fixed iRVision 3DV/600 vision sensor locates and picks products from the full bin, scans each according to its RFID tag, and places it back on the correct shelf.
The CRX-20iA/L can pick consumer items of varying sizes and shapes that weigh up to 20kg. The demonstration highlights its wide motion range and ability to handle small or large bins, relieving workers from physically demanding and repetitive jobs.
“Using cobots and AMRs for order fulfillment helps customers increase productivity, reduce operating costs and improve scalability,” added Cantrell.
Palletizing: A CRX-25iA robot offering a 25 kg (55.1 lb.) payload and 1,889 mm (74.3 in.) reach will demonstrate case palletizing. Guided by a 3DV/200 iRVision sensor mounted to the arm, the CRX-25iA will palletize boxes to nearly 7 ft. (213 cm) high.
In addition, the CRX-25iA will be mounted to a mobile cart to showcase its flexibility. The robot can be easily repositioned by hand and uses vision to automatically adjust to its new location and continue working accurately, according to FANUC.
Packing: A CRX-10iA will demonstrate packing health and beauty products. “Attendees can try the cobot’s intuitive hand guidance and easy-to-use Tablet TP programming,” said the company.
More industrial robots to see at ProMat
High-speed, vision-guided induction/singulation: A FANUC M-10iD/12 robot equipped with an iRVision 3DV/1600 sensor will identify and pick random packages coming down a chute onto a conveyor and place each item onto an outbound conveyor.
An iRVision 3DV/600 sensor will identify double picks, and the robot will return duplicate packages to the pick conveyor. Once a single package is on the outbound conveyor, it is recirculated, and the cycle repeats.
This cell will demonstrate how automation can effectively induct and singulate products for downstream sortation, FANUC said.
Vision-guided each picking: A FANUC LR-10iA/10 robot guided by several 3DV/400 vision sensors mounted over the workcell will pick various combinations of products from four separate totes to demonstrate order fulfillment.
When the order tote is completed, it will move to the opposite side of the cell, where an LR Mate 200iD robot will pick and place each item back onto the conveyor, sorting them by color to refill the pick totes.
Palletizing/depalletizing: The M-410iC/110 robot equipped with FANUC’s PalletTool Turbo software will pick cases from two conveyors and palletize a mixed layer unit load.
The robot will then use HandlingTool for depalletizing the product from the pallet back to the two conveyors. The unit loads were created with FANUC’s PalletPRO simulation software and then downloaded directly to the robot via Ethernet.
“Our software products simplify the setup of palletizing and depalletizing mixed layer systems,” said Cantrell. “PalletPRO simulation software can be used to completely build, debug and test a palletizing application offline. PalletTool Turbo handles both the robot motion and stack pattern generation.”
Industrial PCs for All Needs: FANUC offers a platform for custom developments in a wide variety of applications. Available in several different sizes and options, the company claimed that its industrial PCs are “fast, secure, and easy to use.”
The FANUC Digital Servo Adapter-Model B is a motion-control device that enables the integration of a FANUC servo system with an existing, third-party control.
Editor's note: For more about ProMat 2023, visit Robotics 24/7's special coverage page.
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