Universal Robots Cobots Handle Mission-Critical Inspection for Automotive Manufacturer

Comprehensive Logistics needed to ensure that every engine sub-assembly it produces is fully seated and locked. If there is a loose connection, it can cause an intermittent or complete loss of the power steering, says Mike O’Keefe, assembly superintendent. “It’s a life-threatening failure mode, so we need to make sure those clips are locked into place with 100 percent confidence.” Their initial stationary multi-camera system couldn’t position cameras into tight spots and wasn’t meeting repeatability needs. The company researched alternatives, and found Universal Robots. “We quickly realized that this was a cost-effective, light-duty robot that could move a vision camera to the right positions safely and repeatably,” explains O’Keefe. “The dexterity of the Universal Robot enables it to get underneath where the mission-critical points are, and could be 100 percent repeatable.” The UR cobots proved to be the perfect solution, complete with a quick payback. “Looking at just the robot hardware, the ROI was probably less than four months,” he says.