Third Robotics Days showcases present and future of robotic solutions

Robots are still fodder from sci-fi movies for some people. Not so in industry. There, they are well-established and much-needed workers. At its third Robotics Days, Stäubli shows what robot technology is already capable of in the workplace today. In the Einstein hall in Technopolis, it gathered not only the robot stars from its own ranks, but also numerous partners with whom it cooperates "After all, we do not want to sell our customers a robot, but a ready-made solution. Therefore, the content program does not lapse into sales pitches but talks about technology. The strength of this event," sums up Laurent Mattheys, Robotics Division Manager at Stäubli Benelux.

The great conquests of robots, may date back several decades. Yet they are still on the rise today. "Because as technology advances, there are also more and more applications within reach of robots. They are far from being fully developed and certainly not in the food industry where it is a challenge to make automation and hygiene go hand in hand. Especially in those areas where robots may come into direct contact with food products and therefore a strict cleaning regime applies. With our full range of food robots with fully enclosed design, we can safely call ourselves pioneers in hygienic solutions in this field," Mattheys says. A pressing theme to which the lecture of Frank Moerman of EHEDG on the challenges of cleaning and disinfection of robots connected nicely. On the exhibition floor, Stäubli's new fully enclosed SCARA robots received their baptism of fire. Although they have been launched for a while now, corona had given them few opportunities to show themselves to the general public.

Increasingly easy to operate and program

A second striking observation is the growing ease of use of robots. "This is where our partners play an important role. Based on the customer's challenges, they set to work to integrate the robot perfectly and prepare it for its tasks. After all, the trick is to design the interface in such a way that the complexity remains behind it, while the operator can move intuitively through the menu structure." A total of seventeen partners signed present on the show floor: Actemium, Beckhoff, Conway, Coval, IRA Feeding Systems, Pilz, Qing, SalamanderU, Schunk, Sick, Sprutcam, Stäubli Electrical Connectors, Stäubli Fluid Connectors, VDP Automation and ZVS Techniek. That robot programming can be simpler than perhaps thought, Koen Kerkhofs of Beckhoff made clear in his lecture. He guided the audience along the possibilities of doing so directly from the TwinCAT environment.

Robotization and digitization

And robots are obviously not escaping the digitization trend either. Where robotization is already an important factor in ensuring consistent quality, data can go a step further to optimize products, production and processes. "Research shows that companies that invested in digitization can on average 40% efficiency gains, get their products 36% to market faster and create a 35% better customer experience. It takes automation and robotization to the next level. And it needs to. After all, robots don't take jobs away from people, they take over those jobs we can no longer find people for. ", let Bram de Vrucht, business manager at QING note in his lecture. For Stäubli, an additional reason to bet on partnerships. "Integrating technology is becoming more and more important in this story. That is the way to achieve a working solution for your customer," Mattheys concluded.

About robots and geckos
A notable novelty at Staübli Robotic Days was spotted by partner SCHUNK. They used the gripping forces that geckos in nature use to propel themselves for the new ADHESO gripper technology. The blacksmith's secret is the surface architecture of special polymers to which different materials and objects adhere. This makes the technology easily adaptable to a wide variety of workpieces and applications.