The KUKA manufacturing solution for ASM
In the pre-setup area of an SMT line, the component tables have to be supplied with component reels. With the aid of the SIPLACE Material Setup Assistant, it is determined which component reels are required on the tables. This assistant sends the appropriate request to the SIPLACE Material Manager, which automatically releases the component reels from the SIPLACE Tower.
The robot takes component reels from the SIPLACE Tower and places them on the component trolley in the desired order. Humans and robots interact directly, without a safety fence – a central requirement of Industrie 4.0. The concept achieves two key objectives: not only is the high quality of the products assured at all times thanks to the use of robots, but productivity is also increased.
LBR iiwa and KMR iiwa working together
Equipped with a custom-tailored gripper, the robot is able to pick up the component reels sensitively in the pre-setup area of the SMT line – even though the reels have different diameters and the sides of the reels are of varying thickness and flexibility. In the placement process on the running line, the SIPLACE Line Monitor informs the operator which component reel in which slot will run out next. It sends this request to the SIPLACE Material Manager, which automatically releases the reels from the SIPLACE Tower.
The KMR iiwa now travels to the SIPLACE Tower. There it feels along the lower level and left side of the shaft as well as the depth of the shaft. It determines the height of the tape reel and then loads tape reels one by one onto the mobile platform. Finally, the robot transports all of the component reels to the SMT line and hands them over to the operator at the correct location and in the correct order.