Robot Cell for Tending Parts Grinder

HMPS are primarily know for End of Line automation for the food and beverage industry, but our skill set reaches far wider. We have completed several industrial focused projects over the past few years with this project fitting that category.

We have just completed the installation of this project with a local South Australian business, Intercast & Forge. Intercast, a privately owned SA company is Australia’s largest iron foundry. They have been setting the benchmark for over 70 years and are currently exporting to more than 60 countries around the world.

The cell automates various finishing processes of cast iron parts. The cell had to have the flexibility to run a multitude of part shapes and sizes allowing for future scalability. Parts are manually fed into the system where a vision camera is used to detect the parts. To handle the part manipulation a foundry spec’d ABB IRB 6700 6 axis robot was selected. The robot transfers parts to the grinder, accurately locating the part in the grinder fixture. The robot then removes finished parts from the grinder, placing them on a conveyor to feed out of the cell. The system will detect a part which is incorrectly orientated on the in-feed conveyor, placing it at a waiting station for re-introduction into the system. A toolless, quick release mechanism on the robot allows for quick and easy gripper change over for future parts.

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