Deploy Complete Applications with Plug & Play Components from the Vention Partner Network

As of this week, we have officially launched the Vention Partner Network: a rapidly growing digital network of manufacturers and products dedicated to plug-and-play industrial automation.

The Vention Partner Network lets the industrial automation and machine design community create more advanced, end-to-end automated equipment with little to no integration effort. Keep reading to explore some of the industrial automation, manufacturing and robot-based applications that can be realized on the Vention platform. For more information, browse the complete list of applications.

Industrial automation applications

Automate your manufacturing, assembly, and material-handling processes with purpose-built industrial automation applications.

Conveyors

Conveyors are diverse, but at their core is an automated roller conveyor, belt conveyor, or even magnetic conveyor that moves an object from A to B. As the manufactured object is moved on the conveyor, subsequent assembly or inspection steps can then be conducted at defined positions. Applications vary from simple conveying to complex pick-and-place systems with indexing and part accumulation.

Cartesian palletizers

Cartesian palletizers automatically stack cases of goods onto pallets in predefined patterns. When designing a palletizer application, you have to consider the number of pallets to be simultaneously palletized, as well as the infeed (typically a conveyor) and outfeed (often a gate large enough to accommodate a forklift or pallet mover). Select an end-of-arm tool for the palletizer based on your packages’ size, weight, and surface type. Finally, make sure to equip your palletizer with a proper safety system, such as an area scanner or light curtain.

Path Following

Path-following applications let a cartesian system follow a predefined 2D path to conduct a manufacturing operation, such as routing, deburring, or depositing glue. Your overall design architecture will depend on the contour line to be followed. Likewise, the best end-of-arm tooling for you depends on which manufacturing operation you want to conduct along the 2D path.

Pick & Place

Pick-and-place applications are commonly used for assembly operations, packaging, and inspection. The infeed system’s capacity (often a conveyor, tray, or part feeder) determines the machine autonomy. When choosing an end-of-arm tool, consider your parts’ characteristics (shape, size, weight, surface quality) and how much precision and accuracy will be needed to place them correctly.

Manufacturing applications

Drive your continuous improvement agenda and gain productivity in your core manufacturing operations.

Workstations

Workstations take up a significant amount of space on the manufacturing floor, but this can be optimized through clever design. Typically made for specific tasks like assembly, inspection, testing, and packaging, workstations are gaining sophistication with the addition of new cloud platforms that can provide instructions and monitor tasks.

Robot-based applications

Design and commission complete robot cells with plug-and-play robot applications.

Robot bin picking

Bin-picking applications detect and pick objects from an unstructured arrangement (lying in a bin). These applications are common in fulfillment centers, as you might expect, but they are also popular in manufacturing plants. The critical parameters to optimize here are the speed and success of each pick. End-of-arm tools, use of 2D- or 3D-vision systems, and the robot cell’s geometry all affect bin-picking performance.

Robot machine tending

Machine-tending applications involve a robot arm picking a part from an infeed (often a tray or drawer system) and inserting the part in a piece of manufacturing equipment that will conduct the next operation. The most frequent use case by far is a robot tending a CNC milling machine. Whether fixed in place or mobile, machine-tending systems require software to coordinate the robot arm with the CNC machine. A reference device can be used to prevent reprogramming as the robot is moved from one location to another.

Autonomous guided vehicles

Autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) perform material-handling tasks with various degrees of autonomy. AGVs are typically sold in two parts: an all-purpose bottom module for driving, and a more specific top module for performing the given task. Some of the most common use cases are shelving, conveying, and bin-holding.

Cobot dispensing

Dispensing applications deploy air-pressured media like glue, silicone, or sealant at predefined locations or by following a 2D or 3D contour. Typical end-of-arm tooling is a feedable syringe that works in conjunction with the robot. Keep in mind that if you need to follow a contour precisely, your dispensing setup will probably require a very rigid and fully levelled robot base.

Cobot palletizers

In contrast to speedy cartesian palletizers, slower collaborative robot palletizers are better for places with limited floor space because (as long as the application is properly designed) they are safe for humans to work nearby. As with cartesian palletizers, a conveyor or other infeed system brings a case of goods to be picked by the robot arm and placed on one or two pallets simultaneously. Your pallet dimensions will affect whether you need to mount the cobot on a vertical 7th axis. The end-of-arm tool should be selected based on box size, weight and surface.

Surface removal

Material-removal applications let you grind, sand, and polish automatically. Combining a robot arm and an appropriate end-of-arm tool, you can achieve a variety of surface qualities by changing your sanding media, sanding speed, robot speed, and other parameters. Note that you will need a rigid part-holding fixture to position the part to be processed repeatedly.