Cobots are making QC automation accessible to small and mid-size manufacturing operations
What are the top five gauges that QC teams want to automate using collaborative robots? We presented our findings in a recent article published at Manufacturing.net.
The top five gauges are:
- Micrometers or height gauges
- Thread gauges
- Manual bore gauges or air gauges
- 2D optical profilers with many manual gauges
- Digital calipers
The first four involve using a cobot to move a part to a fixture and activating a standard mechanical gauge. Because this approach automates the manufacturer’s existing gauges and/or gauging techniques, re-validating the gauges is not necessary. You can expect improvements in gage repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R) by removing human error from the gauging process.
The fifth involves using a robotic caliper that is mounted on the cobot arm. A gripper on the cobot arm moves a part to a fixture, the arm rotates to move the calipers into position, and the robot system activates the calipers to take measurements.
