미래에서는 인간-로봇 협력이 매우 중요합니다. 시스템 제조업체인 BEC는 Siemens Healthineers를 위해 이러한 협력 솔루션을 개발했습니다. 이 시스템에서는 몇 톤에 달하는 코일이 자기공명단층촬영기(MRI)의 자석에 정밀하게 삽입됩니다. 여기에는 코일이 단단히 고정되도록 하는 Festo의 전기 실린더가 매우 중요한 역할을 하고 있습니다.
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.
Total precision when handling objects weighing 1.5 tonnes might seem like an impossible task, but it’s all part of BEC's core competency. “It is vital that the coils do not twist or slip when the gripper picks them up and inserts them into the magnets; the tolerance for inserting the coils into the magnets is no more than 0.5 millimetres,” explains Nusseck.
This is precisely the task of four supports driven by electric cylinders EPCC from Festo. After entering the coil, the electric cylinders guide the supports to the inner wall of the coil. “The electric cylinders from Festo have proven to be the right choice. They have a compact design, but at the same time provide a large working area and thus have the necessary flexibility for 13 different coil dimensions,” says automation expert Nusseck.
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.