The future belongs to human-robot cooperation. System builder BEC has developed such a collaborative solution for Siemens Healthineers. It precisely inserts coils weighing several tonnes into the magnets of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. Electric cylinders from Festo, which ensure the coils are securely gripped, play a crucial role here.
The first thing you notice when entering the BEC assembly hall is one of the world's biggest articulated arm robots with a load capacity of 2300 kg. It's like something from aerospace technology, and nothing less than high-tech. Even more eye-catching is the vast gripper system, which BEC has mounted on the robot’s articulated arm. Equipped with 3D scanners and touch-sensitive sensors, it is truly high-tech. “When the gripper picks up the coils weighing up to 1.5 tonnes and inserts them into the magnets of a future magnetic resonance imaging machine, the utmost precision is required,” emphasises Hans-Günther Nusseck, project manager at BEC.
Siemens Healthineers uses the system to assemble its MRI machines. It makes the process steps involved in inserting the coils into a magnet significantly safer and more efficient. The real highlight, however, is that the system’s process steps with the articulated arm robot are automated. Thanks to sensor technology with 3D scanners and touch-sensitive sensors, the system moves freely and safely in the workspace as a collaborative human-robot solution. A safety barrier is not required. The role of people consists solely of monitoring this first step in the production of an MRI machine. The sensors in the system ensure safety.
“It is precisely this human-robot cooperation that we consider to be our USP,” explains Nusseck. He also mentions other applications in medical technology where BEC systems are used, such as in radiation therapy for the highly precise positioning of patients at the radiation source, or a robot with seats on an articulated arm that simulates riding a roller-coaster.