What is the prospect of robot automatic bending machine?
In recent years, the application cases of industrial robots in China have increased rapidly, mainly in the fields of welding, spraying, handling, etc., and there are not many applications in bending. Workpiece bending is a widely used and dangerous work, so the market prospect of robot bending is very optimistic, and there are many successful experiences abroad. At present, 40% ~ 50% of the bending machines in the sheet metal processing workshops in the European and American markets are equipped with robot automatic bending systems, while the bending automation in China is just starting. In the next 10 years, the domestic demand for bending robots will show a straight-line upward trend.
The work of the bending processing unit is mainly divided into six processes: feeding, picking, centering, turning, bending and stacking.
Feeding: manually place the whole stack of plates to be processed on the feeding platform, and install the plate detection switch on the feeding platform to avoid the robot grabbing the tray after all the plates are processed.
Reclaiming: when the robot runs to the loading platform, the height of the plate is detected by the ultrasonic sensor installed on the gripper. According to the detection data, the robot automatically runs to the appropriate position to grasp the plate. After the plate is gripped, the thickness of the plate is measured by the thickness measuring device, so as to avoid grabbing multiple plates at once and causing processing failure. After the thickness measurement is passed, the robot is ready for alignment.
Centering: the robot runs to the positioning table, places the plate on the positioning table for accurate positioning, and grabs the plate again after positioning, ready for bending.
Turning over: determine whether to use the turning over frame according to the process requirements. If necessary, run the robot to the turning over frame position, place the sheet material on the turning over frame, release the sheet material and avoid it, and grasp the sheet material after the turning over is completed.
Bending: the robot runs to the position of the bending machine, places the plate on the lower die of the bending machine, and performs accurate positioning through the rear finger sensor of the bending machine. After the positioning is completed, the robot sends a bending signal to the bending machine, and cooperates with the bending machine to complete the bending action, and determines whether to bend again to determine whether to perform continuous bending. Bending is a key link, and the technical difficulty of bending is the cooperative action of the robot and the bending machine, that is, bending following. When the robot grips or supports the sheet metal for bending, the sheet metal deforms, and the robot needs to follow the sheet metal to perform arc action according to a specific trajectory algorithm, and always maintain a relatively fixed position with the sheet metal.
Palletizing: when the robot runs to the unloading platform, there are many kinds of palletizing process actions due to the difference of workpiece forming, such as conventional matrix palletizing, single and double-layer cross palletizing, positive and negative interlocking palletizing, etc.
6-axis or 7-axis robot is equipped with 6 + 1 or (7 + 1, 8 + 1) axis CNC bending machine. The robot full-automatic bending machine for sheet metal is equipped with centering table, turning bracket and other accessories to meet the needs of automatic bending. Advantages: labor saving, no potential safety hazard, suitable for long-time continuous operation, and good workpiece accuracy and consistency.
At present, whether it is a general standard six axis robot or a special bending robot optimized for the bending process on the robot arm or body, all need the support of the bending following algorithm, and there are few cases that do not follow the bending. Without good follow-up effect, the gripper or chuck grip will pull the workpiece due to poor follow-up trajectory, forming sheet wrinkles and affecting the forming quality. The establishment of an accurate bending following motion model of the robot is helpful to establish a good following trajectory algorithm, so as to obtain excellent following effect.