Manufacturing technology
by improving productivity, quality and safety,” she asserts.
One of the primary reasons for that is the ability of these machines to automate repetitive, tedious or dangerous tasks. Consider, for instance, the job of machine tending. Central to a smooth production process, it is also a dull and sometimes physically demanding task: place a part into a machine, ensure that machine manipulates the part effectively, perhaps turn it over so the process can be repeated on the other side, then unload the part and repeat with another component. Give a cobot the role of machine tending, however, and humans are spared both tedium and the risk of physical strain. And once products are complete, boxed and ready to go onto a pallet for shipping, a cobot could be the one doing the hauling from production line to pallet. No need for a human to move potentially heavy boxes about and have to go through the dull but crucial task of checking that the correct box is on the correct pallet. “Cobots free up human workers to focus on more complex and creative endeavours,” explains Sawyer. “By taking over mundane and potentially hazardous jobs, cobots can significantly reduce the risk of workplace injuries.” In the context of medical device manufacture, that is an attractive prospect – and one on which some firms are already capitalising. Staff at Nichrominox, a French SME that manufactures sterilisation equipment for dentists, are for instance reported as saying the installation of four cobots created an immediate 10% productivity boost. The machines are used to punch and bend metals and to work on assembly alongside a human, which is said to save time and reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries.
In cobots also lie the opportunity to minimise any human exposure to all harmful chemicals required for manufacture, sterilisation or packaging of medical devices. Cobots can also safely handle delicate components and, through sensors, immediately and accurately detect imperfections. And there is the chance to reduce the biggest contamination risk in the manufacture of medical devices – humans. Enhancing the use of cobots in clean rooms and controlled environments, in which implantable or invasive devices such as catheters and pacemakers are made, could enhance productivity. “The biggest advantage of cobots tends to be when humans and robots work on collaborative tasks where each entity has their own specific set of skills that they are most suited to perform,” says the University of Nottingham’s Price. In medical device manufacture, for example, you can leave the stuff inside the clean room to the cobots as far as possible while having the humans working close by.
The right cobot for the job For OMRON’s Neues, there is no shortage of possible applications for cobots within medical device manufacturing. “You can fulfil many different tasks: transport, support of assembly tasks, waste management, quality control tasks and handling.” The trick, he says, is to make sure the right cobot is used for the right task. OMRON, for instance, makes two distinct types of cobot. One has an articulated six-axis arm and is generally best employed for operations requiring fast and precise automation. The other is an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) – so a mobile machine that can move through a workspace alongside humans. “In the past there were automated guided vehicles; a guided vehicle, like a train, so you provide rails and it uses those rails. It’s rigid and trapped to them,” says Neues. “Automated mobile robot technology is different. It uses navigation and is working with the operator in the same space. If the operator is blocking its way, it moves around the operator. It’s always aiming for its goal.” Interestingly, Neues reports that some medical device manufacturers are now using a device that combines both types of cobot. German medical and pharmaceutical device company B Braun, for instance, is employing OMRON’s AMR cobots with six-axis arms installed on top. The machine has a conveyor belt so can be used to transport devices or components – a common application for an AMR – but its six-axis arm can then, for instance, empty those goods into a machine for packaging or sorting. “A key consideration in maximising the benefits
of cobot integration is whether a cobot is the right tool for the task at hand,” suggests Sawyer from the University of Nottingham. “Depending on the specific task, manufacturers must assess how a cobot can be integrated into the current process flow.”
Medical Device Developments /
www.medicaldevice-developments.com 47
‘Arm’ machines are better suited to low- quantity processes.
Gumpanat/
Shutterstock.com
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