Class 100 cleanrooms permit a certain number of particles of 0.5µm or larger per cubic foot of air. Robots designed for cleanrooms of this rating are used for material handling and assembly applications in several industries that require low amounts of environmental pollutants, such as the manufacturing of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, electronics, semiconductors, and solar panels. The new cleanroom model of the IRB 120 can also meet more stringent ISO 4 (Class 10) requirements under certain conditions.
The new robot model has the same performance as the standard IRB 120, including superior motion control and path accuracy that provide agility, precision, and speed, with a lower profile and a smaller footprint. All IRB 120 models can be mounted at any angle, either on top of a machine, in close proximity to other robots on the line, or in a cell. They are highly nimble, featuring a compact turning radius on axis 1, so they can be mounted close to the application's process machines.
The Cleanroom IRB 120 is available with the compact version of ABB's IRC5 controller.
Ann, actually, I have found many applications for food processing prefer stainless steel enclosures. I know that this is for clean rooms, but I wonder if the painted surfaces have something to do with issues presented by flat surfaces that are unpainted.
You got it, Beth. Although it's more like materials that don't generate particles in the first place, as any particles in the air are a bad thing. Smooth surfaces with tough paint covered by a clear coat so it doesn't chip and is easy to clean with a non-particle-producing type of cloth, paint on flat areas but not in holes or stops, where there's a lot of wear, and special glue seals. I didn't ask about the white color, but white is pretty common in cleanroom equipment and clothing, probably because it's much easier to spot contaminants on white surfaces.
I would imagine there is a lot of demand for specialized clean room versions of robots. Is the non-painted surfaces and some of the other special considerations what make it "clean" as they prevent the attraction of particles?
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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