Industrial Automation Magazine India

Planar Surface Gantry for Mass-Produced Items

Published on : Tuesday 30-11--0001

The highly dynamic planar surface gantry EXCH is beating every speed record. It is 30 per cent faster than any conventional Cartesian handling system while the initial costs are comparable. Festo developed this high-speed handling system for assembly operations in which small and light mass-produced items need to be positioned quickly and flexibly. It is now available in an easy-to-order package with just one part number for both handling system and the control system CMCA.

Not only does the planar surface gantry excel at quick and flexible positioning, it also features a versatile working area that is the same as that of two SCARA robots. Its rectangular working area is also significantly larger than that of a delta kinematic robot system. These are only able to work in round areas, while SCARA robots can only cope with kidney-shaped ones. This makes the planar surface gantry more economical both in terms of its mass – around 150 kg – and its space requirements.

Flat, quick, precise

The EXCH is very flat and has a low centre of gravity and a simpler frame than high-speed parallel kinematic systems. Its optimised acceleration and braking characteristics enable an accuracy of 0.1 mm during suction pick-up and gripping. The planar surface gantry has a speed of 5 m/s and achieves acceleration rates of 50 m/s² thanks to a clever design in which it is driven by two static servo motors EMMS using a single recirculating toothed belt. An added benefit is that there is no need to move any of the motors in the X/Y plane, which has two degrees of freedom. Reduced mass allows fast, dynamic motion and results in less wear.

Uncomplicated solution

With the CMCA, users receive a complete, ready-to-install control package for the planar surface gantry EXCH, including an axis controller, 3D motion control, motor controller and safety concept. This provides machine and plant builders with an uncomplicated solution for complex and highly dynamic handling tasks which can be ordered using just one part number.

Contact:

Festo Controls Pvt Ltd, Bangalore.

Tel: 01800 425 0036, 01800 121 0036.

Email: [email protected], [email protected]