FLUID DISPENSING THE ROLE OF VISION IN ROBOTIC FLUID DISPENSING
being dispensed, such as adhesives, greases, epoxies, silicones and sealants. Robotic fluid dispensing is essential for
applications that require extremely accurate and repeatable fluid deposit placement, complex dispensing patterns, and/or high- volume throughput. Central to this performance is the robot’s vision-guidance system. Vision gives flexibility to the robot by allowing precise deposit placement. Vision permits these robotic fluid dispensing
The latest-generation fluid dispensing robot systems – exemplified in Nordson EFD’s GV, RV, EV and PRO Series models for 3-axes and 4-axes applications, bring repeatability and precision to automated dispensing systems and assembly operations
Key to streamlining robotic fluid dispensing, vision-guided systems allow precise deposit placement, permitting these robotic systems to deliver faster production cycles and remove the guesswork from the dispensing process, by Johnathan Titone, product line specialist - Automation, Nordson EFD
dispensing operations. Critical is the need to deposit very small and precise amounts of fluid, such as adhesives and silicones, to assemblies like tiny micro-electronics and other minuscule parts. These tiny amounts of fluid must be dispensed reliably and accurately in dosage and placement. The precise positioning and quantity of these fluids deposited on the substrate is vital to those products’ assembly, function, quality, appearance and viability. In addition to maintaining precision dispensing standards, the fluid dispensing method must also meet requirements for throughput volume, worker safety and cost efficiency.
T
Calibration and Testing of Flow Meters
We are one of the world’s leading independent providers of calibration and testing services for flow meters and other devices. We carry out over 1,200 flow meter calibrations each year in our Oil, Water and Gas Flow Measurement facilities.
As the UK’s Designated Institute for flow and density measurement, funded by BEIS, we provide the UK’s measurement traceability which underpins all flow and density measurements.
www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/flowcal TÜV SÜD National Engineering Laboratory, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 0QF +44 (0)1355 593700
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here are many factors that manufacturers consider when deciding which equipment to invest in for fluid
Many fluid dispensing applications use
robots to achieve these objectives. Robots provide process-critical flexible automation that also maintains consistent fluid deposition with extreme accuracy, time after time. This precision repeatability optimises fluid usage, reducing waste and production costs. Robot software adjusts the positioning of dispensed material automatically to accommodate curves or complex contours, or slight errors in workpiece positioning in the nest or fixture, which would otherwise prove difficult to achieve with non-robotic methods. Controlling fluid deposition with visional-
INS-APR21-TUV SUD.qxp_Layout 1 07/04/2021 11:58 Page 1
capable substrate and pattern recognition, ensures the deposit is in the correct location up to positional tolerances of +/- 3 microns. It can precisely manage different materials
systems to deliver faster production cycles, and removes the guesswork from the dispensing process, which minimises programming time and reduces overall operational costs. For most robotic dispensing applications,
the simple-vision pencil camera system is adequate. But if very fast, high-resolution photos of substrate parts are needed, a CCD camera would be required. CCD cameras capture even higher-
definition images, such as that offered by Nordson EFD on its 3-Axis PRO Series Automated Fluid Dispensing Robot. This captures detailed component part images, where shadow enhancement allows vision identification and processing of poor, faint marks, with minimal time interruptions to the dispensing cycle.
Its shutter rapidly captures
high-contrast part images – eliminating blurriness and small distortions found in rolling shutter systems. When paired with intuitive dispensing software and a closed-loop motion control system, the CCD camera enables the PRO Series to achieve best-in- class repeatability of +/- 3 µm (0.003 mm). The PRO Series also permits a laser height-
sensing capability to be added on. Laser height-sensing allows it to map the topography of the substrate and pass those measurements back to the robot so that it can automatically offset the Z-axis values and maintain the correct dispense gap over the substrate. The process occurs in real-time for every part that runs using this feature.
Nordson EFD
www.nordson.com
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