Manufacturers today rely more and more on industrial robots for efficiency and quality. Robots used for welding, cutting, material
handling, dispensing, and assembly must operate at very high levels of reliability and repeatability/accuracy to meet the demands
of modern manufacturing. This means that any environmental changes or mechanical failure of the robot system - whether the robot itself
or any of its peripherals - can result in many hours of lost production or can generate large amounts of scrap parts.
The AccuBeamTM (also
known as AutoCalTM Series 2) system offers an inline robot calibration solution designed to quickly and automatically guarantee the
performance of robotic equipment. Adaptable to a wide variety of robotic applications and compatible with most robot types,
the AutoCal Series 2 system can detect drift or sudden changes to the robot structure itself (including joint offsets) as well
as its Tool Center Point (TCP), and then automatically correct for those changes without any operator intervention. This
means no "guessing" of what went wrong; no valuable time wasted re-teaching robot programs, and no loss of production quality!
The
AutoCal Series 2 System - Maximum Quality and Uptime at a Minimum Cost
· Automatic correction of robot temperature
variations
· Full re-calibration of a "bent" tool (TCPx,y ,z and orientation)
· Fast
recovery after a robot crash or motor replacement (joint offset re-mastering)
· Constant automatic monitoring
of the robot's performance
· All that, while controlling quality and drastically minimizing any production downtime!
The AutoCal Series 2 System - Dynalog's State-of-the-Art Calibration Technology
Dynalog is the world leader in robot
cell calibration technology. Its mainstream product - the DynaCal system - is used for off-line robot cell calibration, and has been
accepted by many major robot manufacturers and end-users as the most accurate and technically advanced robot calibration process available.
The AutoCal Series 2 system incorporates the proven calibration technology of the DynaCal product into an in-line, fully automated system designed specifically for process monitoring, repeatability control, and recovery purposes.
The AutoCal Series 2 System - How
it works
The AutoCal Series 2 System comes in different forms, depending on the particular robot controller and its level of integration
(contact Dynalog for more information). However, a typical installation consists of (1) the AutoCal software, (2) twin beam
lasers, and (3) a rugged industrial sensor. The AutoCal Series 2 System relies on simple and automatic measurements: no
special artifact or interface required! Between production cycles, the robot automatically executes - in a matter of seconds - a "Quick-Check"
measurement routine to assess overall system performance and to detect any drift or crash of the robot or TCP. Any changes to the
robot structure or TCP can then be automatically corrected through the AutoCal Series 2 System's compensation process. Finally,
the AutoCal system confirms the accuracy of the corrected robot and its TCP, to ensure consistent quality and process control.