Engineers and system integrators who are building robot cells will find it easier to integrate larger robots with an innovation from ABB.
The industrial robot maker has reengineered its IRC5 panel-mounted controller (PMC) to work with the bigger drives on the company's largest robots. The PMC Large, which includes the new, bigger panel-mounted drive module, helps eliminate the separate floor-mounted controller previously required for ABB's robots, said Joe Campbell, vice president of its Robots & Applications Group.
Smaller, cooler electronics make panel-mounted controllers possible for bigger robots, saving factory floor space. Source: ABB
Panel-mounted versions of the robots' controls have been reconfigured to fit the taller, flatter panel-mount enclosure, rather than the traditional cube-shaped floor-mounted enclosure. When traditional floor-mounted enclosures are used for robot controls, most robot cells have a second enclosure that houses other control components -- typically the operator interface, programming interface, logic controls, and safety controls.
Including robot controls in a PMC slightly increases the size of that second enclosure and does away with the floor mount enclosure, Campbell told us. "PMCs let machine builders and integrators shrink the controller's footprint, and therefore the robot cell footprint, and simplify internal cabling."
The panel-mount architecture also provides an additional layer of protection for all the electronics, sealing them off from harsh operating environments. "The floor-mounted robot controller is fairly robust," Campbell said. "Typically, these panels are solid metal, airtight enclosures. But for some applications, the environment taxes even this device."
Some especially harsh operating environments are foundry applications (where the moist, dusty atmosphere requires a sealed cooling system), food applications that require rigorous washdown capabilities, and other environments in which the controller faces excessive vibration, extreme temperatures, or risk of ignition.
TJ, those are good points. ABB says it took increased heat and power dissipation into account in this redesign. To make the reconfiguration possible, the electronics had gotten smaller and dissipate less heat, in addition to changing the orientation of components within the enclosure.
Space is always at a premium, but sometimes that premium MUST be paid. As the control cabinets become smaller, it can get more difficult to maintain what is within. And, as the conrollers get smaller, the thermal density gets higher. Smaller control cabinets cannot reject the heat as much as larger ones. To handle the heat, an active cooling means will be necessary, adding to maintenance.
From my experience in machine vision, I think the space crunch trend in general has been going on for the last couple of years, or at least that's when I started hearing about it. It might have been building up for an even longer period before that.
It does seem odd this new pressure for space. For years all you heard was the need for more uptime. Even the pressure on energy efficiency is relatively new. Now there's pressure on integration, data sharing, networking, workflow, alternative energies, even efficiency in HVAC. Space is a new one.
I agree that using less floor space certainly resonates with the front office. But I would imagine it also affects time management. Moving, picking and placing of materials must be faster when the distances travelled are smaller.
I can see this from the seller side. I'm interested in how widespread the space-savings demand is on the user end and how much of a competitive advantage this is becoming for vendors like ABB and others who embrace it. Is it a must-have or just a want-to-have? (Also, which other vendors are doing this too?)
I started hearing about taking up less factory floor and plant space during the last couple of years in machine vision contexts. But I'm hearing about it a lot more now regarding robotics cell sizes, in particular regarding to automotive manufacturing, and also in more industrial contexts. If power supplies are getting the same pressure, sounds like a major trend in progress.
Until recently, I hadn't heard much about designing plant systems to take up less space. Right now I'm working on an article about power supplies for plants being designed smaller so they take up less space in crowded control cabinets.
Against the continuing backdrop of tight budgets, anything that can help shrink cell floor space has to resonate with the bean counters in manufacturing companies. Being able to increase robotics functionality without eating up pricey and precious manufacturing square footage is a huge benefit for plant operators looking to bring more automation onto the factory floor.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
With LEDs dropping in price virtually every year, automakers have begun employing them, not only on luxury vehicles, but on entry-level models, as well.
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