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Product category: Robotics, Handling and Storage
News Release from: Barr and Paatz
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 28 May 2007

Robotics distribution deal reached

Barr and Paatz is set to distribute the Elau Delta 3 robot, which is ideal for high-speed pick and place application

Barr and Paatz of Totnes, Devon has been appointed UK systems integrator for robot solutions by Elau The deal gives Barr and Paatz access to the Delta 3 robot, which is ideal for high-speed pick and place applications, and the groundbreaking PacDriveT automation system, which offers scope for integrating robots into modular machines and the option of developing and building customised kinematics from scratch

Barr and Paatz is already an official integration partner for a number of leading hardware brands and positions itself as an early adopter of new technologies, passing on performance benefits to its customers.

Its multidisciplinary team, specialising in robotics, vision systems, electronic and mechanical design, PLC programming and software development, builds customised assembly lines, production workcells and materials handling equipment, focusing particularly on the plastics, pharmaceuticals, light engineering and food processing sectors.

Barr and Paatz' access to Elau automation technology and direct technical input opens up the possibility of new high-speed applications in primary and secondary packaging, as well as electronics and assembly, where there is growing demand for automation solutions that increase flexibility and productivity.

"Elau is a key technology partner in an important growth sector and I'm sure there are tremendous mutual market opportunities, particularly packaging and processing machines using integral robotics", says Barr and Paatz MD, Stirling Paatz.

"They develop innovative products and systems that we believe in and have promised us the highest level of technical support".

Elau is one of the most experienced players in the automation industry, with more than 27 years' experience, and its PacDrive system controls more than 30,000 machines worldwide and is credited with enabling Generation 3 modular design.

Elau's UK Managing Director, Mike Clarke, is enthusiastic about tying in Barr and Paatz as this country's first robotic solutions integrator: "'There's a clear technical advantage in understanding how robotics should function and Barr and Paatz is a leading specialist in this sphere, with extensive applications expertise", he says.

"We are particularly excited about the potential for our new Delta-style robot, with its user-friendly PacDrive controls and vision system, and shall be exploring fresh market opportunities with Barr and Paatz".

Marketed by Elau in the UK as the PacDrive UltraPicker, the new Delta 4-axis robot is ideal for single picking, feed placing and top loading applications, where individual items have to be moved quickly and precisely from fast moving conveyors, at speeds up to 160 picks per minute".

"With the design patent running out in Europe this year, Elau's newly-available Delta robot brings something distinctive to the marketplace, with its comparatively-low 90kg gross weight, smaller, low profile dimensions and highly competitive pricing opening up a wealth of possible applications, especially when combined with Barr and Paatz' applications design skills".

Resembling a three-legged spider, with its parallel kinematics and servomotors mounted off the arms on an overhead chassis, the UltraPicker offers three translational degrees of freedom, together with a fourth optional rotating axis.

It has a payload capacity of 1kg and is capable of 160 pick cycles per minute, typically using a lightweight vacuum gripper, operating at acceleration speeds up to 10G.

The robotic upper and forearms, are made from carbonfibre composite materials, employing advanced aerospace production techniques, resulting in low overall height, reduced mass inertia and extreme stiffness; neither the joints nor drive mechanisms require lubrication and there are no moving wires on the arms, contributing to long-term reliability.

Rather than employ a dedicated robot controller, which would need to be synchronised with the rest of the automation process, the UltraPicker uses the IEC-conforming PacDrive motion/logic control system and its family of controllers with embedded Pentium processor technology.

Apart from seamless integration of robot functionality into the latest breed of packaging machines, PacDrive provides intelligent acceleration monitoring of the tool centre point (TCP), a belt tracking function for synchronising with multiple conveyor belts and real-time collision avoidance for multiple UltraPickers, operating in a shared workspace.

"These Delta configuration and control features enable a typical production line to be squeezed dimensionally in three directions, reducing the installation footprint", explains Elau's Mike Clarke.

"The UltraPicker's smaller physical size means less overhead clearance above the conveyor, the no-clash shared working environment allows them to be installed much closer together, whilst the high picking speed makes it viable to reduce the number of robots working on a line".

An integrated robot vision system, implemented by Barr and Paatz, would further enable the high- speed UltraPicker to pick any object from a moving conveyor and place it into a package with a specified orientation or, using differentiated image recognition, to detect and remove downgraded or defective products from a fast-moving packaging or processing line.

Co-ordinated with the vision system software, the PacDrive controller regulates the robots, as well as product transport belts and packaging supply, making for seamless operation.

In addition to its in-house 3D robot simulation and programming system, Barr and Paatz has been equipped with PacDrive's powerful EPAS-4 software development toolkit, complete with Robotic Library functionality.

This IEC-compliant function block simplifies the development of robot kinematics and has been parameterised to include Delta 2/3, SCARA, gantry and articulated robot configurations.

Furthermore, customised kinematics can be integrated as modules, enabling Barr and Paatz to design and build robot mechanisms in up to six dimensions, using Elau intelligent servo drives, then embed these into the machine control system.

"Elau's Gen3 technology and library of predefined control modules makes it easier, faster and cheaper to integrate robotics and vision systems into packaging and assembly machines, at the same time achieving the high execution speeds that are required", concludes Stirling Paatz.

"Such integration requires technical skills to define the kinematics, then develop the appropriate robot solution, which is our specialist area".

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