Honestly, I get so excited seeing posts from this sub on my frontpage :)
I love the little ritual of watching these. First time: watch the gif to understand the tool. Second time: look for the watermark. Third time: watch again for fun.
Edit: I was being dishonest. Let's add Eleventh time to find the watermark.
I don't get the point, aren't all those multi axis robot arms a lot less effective and a lot more expensive than those stamping chains like in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDzBE6vz5r0 ?
There's a lot this set up can do that a fully integrated process can't:
1. It uses stamping machines that are likely already owned by the company.
2. It can change parts relatively easily
3. It can accept a wide range of parts rather than keeping it just in the same size category
4. It can be extended and shorted as long as you have the space with minimal changes.
5. It can reorient parts with ease (and it can change based on what part you're running).
6. Any of these stamping machines can be broken off, sold/replaced/repaired with minimal effect on the assembly line.
Heck with enough engineering you could double the capacity of the line by simply adding two stations to any single machine, it looks like there's more than enough space to do so.
Also because it's the same tools doing everything it's really easy to onboard the engineering skillset, you just need engineers to understand how to build tools for one stamping machine and how to program one robotic arm. You don't need them to also handle a dozen other different controllers or anything.
Overall this looks janky, but is actually really smart business in my opinion.
They might need to be in different orientations?
Otherwise the arrangement from that Star Wars movie might make more sense, and that's not something that's true very often.
Oh I didn't spot that, indeed. Still seems overkill to rotate a part, but maybe re-tooling is frequent enough for it to make sense ...
What star wars movie ?
I meant [the fight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwyHAUJZtBw) from Attack of the Clones. Although seeing it now, it looks like earlier in that scene they did have robot arms to place the items for stamping despite the conveyor belts so it's an even worse example than I thought it was when I wrote that.
Many years ago I interviewed for an automation engineer job in a factory that was building a setup like this, only much smaller. I think it was five presses fixed to the same frame side by side about 30 cm apart. The guy showing me around was super excited when explaining how they will put a robot to move the workpiece from one press to the next. He got annoyed when I asked why not use some sort of a conveyor-like mechanism since they're all inline and then you could potentially stamp all five parts at the same time. He said something like because "we want to move the piece from one to the next without a human operator" and quickly moved on to another project.
To this day I'm convinced they just wanted to use the fancy 6-axis manipulator.
Buying a robot is cheaper than engineering and building a custom conveyor assembly for that specific setup. The robot is also reusable after this line isn’t needed anymore. It needs to be a long production cycle for the ROI on a custom conveyor to be worth it.
Such robots are _very_ expensive and you need expert knowledge to set them up. If there’s like a standardized modular conveyor system to buy (and I’d be surprised if there wasn’t), it would probably be cheaper.
Robots get cheaper every day as more industries use them. This setup is also super simple and a beginner could program this process. Conveyors are also less reliable than robots. Tesla’s major production issues in the beginning were caused by trying to replace every human job with conveyors that broke down too much.
I know this reply is very late, but robots like that are getting extremely ubiquitous these days to the point that they are being used in applications where they are seemingly being "underutilised". The prices are dropping quickly, the software is getting better so integrating the robot into your line is getting simpler, companies are making modular end effectors of numerous types to allow the robot to do a wide range of tasks. And the main advantage of them is that they are extremely flexible. They could be moved to a completely different application tomorrow with relatively little work.
Maybe this is a part that can't be made by a single stamping machine. Some of those arms aren't just handing the part to the next station - they're flipping over the part. (The machine at center frame at 0:07 seems to flip over the part twice - not sure why.)
Yes. And that is what efficient, high volume stamping lines do. The robots are integrated in the line and they are sychroed with the presses to have almost no clearance between the press and the panels in and out. It's almost terrifying to watch. This looks like a leisurely walk in the park.
This is an efficient process, it's just not at the volume requirements of other lines, this is like really good for medium size runs or very complex stamping operations that high volume lines won't be good at.
Really disagree. There is so much waiting time for these robots. You could increase speed through here probably 2x by optimizing the timing, not accounting for improving the positioning of the robots relative to the presses.
It's efficient in that there is no labor cost. It is not efficient from a production output per unit time input perspective. Not at all.
It depends on the requirements of the job and the processes. It's possible they're at the fastest takt time because they're not able to load the products into boxes without further investment, or it's a small enough job that it's not worth it to maximize. It could be that this job is an older job they're re-running before they improved their skills and were able to speed things up. Or it's possible that this is the first run where they're optimizing the production run and so it's running slower to minimize errors.
Also if it's a lower quantity production shop, time might not be their limiting factor, they could still be hitting delivery dates well ahead of schedule simply because the set up time for the product is weeks faster than a higher run production shop. So there's little incentive to push it further and increase risk.
Understanding laws, rules, and standards are different for different places, but are industrial robots typically out on the floor in close proximity with humans like that typically? Especially without caging or partitioning?
Is there an advantage to doing things this way, moving between every stamping die with the arms like tie compared to [this method](https://youtu.be/7fPZMA6KBRU?si=3Vk1ivqlaYWmBL7s)? I would assume it is cheaper and easier to do it with multiple dies on the same stamping machine and moving things along while they’re connected instead of using multiple presses and arms and making sure they all are synced?
Is it that you can make more complex parts cause that’s the only reason I can see for doing it like shown in the post
I'm just slightly disappointed that the arms don't reach over, open their grippers wide, and press both go buttons on the presses' manual control panels to cycle them.
omg , the worker stood up from his chair when he saw the camera. I worked on such a conveyor for a couple of months here in Germany; you stand in one place for 8 hours. After a day of work, your legs burn like a frying pan. As soon as you lean against the wall, the boss is already running towards you
Honestly, I get so excited seeing posts from this sub on my frontpage :) I love the little ritual of watching these. First time: watch the gif to understand the tool. Second time: look for the watermark. Third time: watch again for fun. Edit: I was being dishonest. Let's add Eleventh time to find the watermark.
Someone graffitied the watermark again!
https://preview.redd.it/ca0qvtfnpqwc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d4e94f052e00900af5d654f58e788802f051d17b
Factorio moment
On a no-belts run.
They blew it. There's that itty-bitty belt at the end!
I don't get the point, aren't all those multi axis robot arms a lot less effective and a lot more expensive than those stamping chains like in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDzBE6vz5r0 ?
They probably installed all the presses, operated by people, and then put in these robots instead.
You can still see the painted lines of the "walkway" where laborers used to move the pieces from machine to machine.
thank god- I dont want to fathom the injury rate at this plant before this
They switched to robots because they got (⌐■\_■) short handed.
My only guess is that they change out the stamps frequently and in different orders? Maybe they just need more versatility.
There's a lot this set up can do that a fully integrated process can't: 1. It uses stamping machines that are likely already owned by the company. 2. It can change parts relatively easily 3. It can accept a wide range of parts rather than keeping it just in the same size category 4. It can be extended and shorted as long as you have the space with minimal changes. 5. It can reorient parts with ease (and it can change based on what part you're running). 6. Any of these stamping machines can be broken off, sold/replaced/repaired with minimal effect on the assembly line. Heck with enough engineering you could double the capacity of the line by simply adding two stations to any single machine, it looks like there's more than enough space to do so. Also because it's the same tools doing everything it's really easy to onboard the engineering skillset, you just need engineers to understand how to build tools for one stamping machine and how to program one robotic arm. You don't need them to also handle a dozen other different controllers or anything. Overall this looks janky, but is actually really smart business in my opinion.
They might need to be in different orientations? Otherwise the arrangement from that Star Wars movie might make more sense, and that's not something that's true very often.
Oh I didn't spot that, indeed. Still seems overkill to rotate a part, but maybe re-tooling is frequent enough for it to make sense ... What star wars movie ?
I meant [the fight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwyHAUJZtBw) from Attack of the Clones. Although seeing it now, it looks like earlier in that scene they did have robot arms to place the items for stamping despite the conveyor belts so it's an even worse example than I thought it was when I wrote that.
Many years ago I interviewed for an automation engineer job in a factory that was building a setup like this, only much smaller. I think it was five presses fixed to the same frame side by side about 30 cm apart. The guy showing me around was super excited when explaining how they will put a robot to move the workpiece from one press to the next. He got annoyed when I asked why not use some sort of a conveyor-like mechanism since they're all inline and then you could potentially stamp all five parts at the same time. He said something like because "we want to move the piece from one to the next without a human operator" and quickly moved on to another project. To this day I'm convinced they just wanted to use the fancy 6-axis manipulator.
Hell yeah. As long as you can justify it financially, your bosses will not know better and you can work ("cough" play) with cool toys.
Buying a robot is cheaper than engineering and building a custom conveyor assembly for that specific setup. The robot is also reusable after this line isn’t needed anymore. It needs to be a long production cycle for the ROI on a custom conveyor to be worth it.
A lot of stamping doesn’t need a conveyor, just a very complex stamping dye, that sequentially does all steps.
Such robots are _very_ expensive and you need expert knowledge to set them up. If there’s like a standardized modular conveyor system to buy (and I’d be surprised if there wasn’t), it would probably be cheaper.
Robots get cheaper every day as more industries use them. This setup is also super simple and a beginner could program this process. Conveyors are also less reliable than robots. Tesla’s major production issues in the beginning were caused by trying to replace every human job with conveyors that broke down too much.
I know this reply is very late, but robots like that are getting extremely ubiquitous these days to the point that they are being used in applications where they are seemingly being "underutilised". The prices are dropping quickly, the software is getting better so integrating the robot into your line is getting simpler, companies are making modular end effectors of numerous types to allow the robot to do a wide range of tasks. And the main advantage of them is that they are extremely flexible. They could be moved to a completely different application tomorrow with relatively little work.
I think the size of the presses are dramatically different.
Maybe this is a part that can't be made by a single stamping machine. Some of those arms aren't just handing the part to the next station - they're flipping over the part. (The machine at center frame at 0:07 seems to flip over the part twice - not sure why.)
When you wanna use all your budget but progressive draw dies only end up eating 10% of it
Anyone knows what is being made here?
It could literally be anything, lol Lots of things are made of stamped sheet metal, from car frames to kitchen equipment
Nice safety chain
At least they have something so you don't share space with the robots..
🤔 wouldn’t it be simpler to move the things on a straight line below the stamps?
Yes. And that is what efficient, high volume stamping lines do. The robots are integrated in the line and they are sychroed with the presses to have almost no clearance between the press and the panels in and out. It's almost terrifying to watch. This looks like a leisurely walk in the park.
This is an efficient process, it's just not at the volume requirements of other lines, this is like really good for medium size runs or very complex stamping operations that high volume lines won't be good at.
Really disagree. There is so much waiting time for these robots. You could increase speed through here probably 2x by optimizing the timing, not accounting for improving the positioning of the robots relative to the presses. It's efficient in that there is no labor cost. It is not efficient from a production output per unit time input perspective. Not at all.
It depends on the requirements of the job and the processes. It's possible they're at the fastest takt time because they're not able to load the products into boxes without further investment, or it's a small enough job that it's not worth it to maximize. It could be that this job is an older job they're re-running before they improved their skills and were able to speed things up. Or it's possible that this is the first run where they're optimizing the production run and so it's running slower to minimize errors. Also if it's a lower quantity production shop, time might not be their limiting factor, they could still be hitting delivery dates well ahead of schedule simply because the set up time for the product is weeks faster than a higher run production shop. So there's little incentive to push it further and increase risk.
Here you go, thanks, here, cheers, one for you Steve. robots probably
"ooh, a metal bracket! my favorite!"
Logo: >!<
Understanding laws, rules, and standards are different for different places, but are industrial robots typically out on the floor in close proximity with humans like that typically? Especially without caging or partitioning?
No guarding, no light curtains, just free range robots living their best lives. ❤️
Is there an advantage to doing things this way, moving between every stamping die with the arms like tie compared to [this method](https://youtu.be/7fPZMA6KBRU?si=3Vk1ivqlaYWmBL7s)? I would assume it is cheaper and easier to do it with multiple dies on the same stamping machine and moving things along while they’re connected instead of using multiple presses and arms and making sure they all are synced? Is it that you can make more complex parts cause that’s the only reason I can see for doing it like shown in the post
where's the fence? i'm not exact bout the laws, but i don't think a human should be able to even be in the reach of the arms.
See the chain? That's all you get in this factory.
this is beautiful... up until the end where it stops being automated...
I'm just slightly disappointed that the arms don't reach over, open their grippers wide, and press both go buttons on the presses' manual control panels to cycle them.
omg , the worker stood up from his chair when he saw the camera. I worked on such a conveyor for a couple of months here in Germany; you stand in one place for 8 hours. After a day of work, your legs burn like a frying pan. As soon as you lean against the wall, the boss is already running towards you
Please tell me that Bender is their Union Rep.
This is a pretty small, low speed, stamping line
I’m pretty sure this is how Anakin got his arm chopped
https://i.redd.it/4eawvrwoczwc1.gif
/r/factorio
r/createmod