JUNE 28, 2007--Since 1980, Sistemas Automatizacion Procesos (SAP, Barcelona, Spain) has been providing solutions and components for the automation of industrial processes. With customized facilities the company provides turnkey solutions such as robotic and vision applications.
One of SAP's automotive customers needed a machine for the assembly and inspection of a part for a van that resembled an iron tube. As key element of the internal structure of the van, the part required 70 different points of inspection to check welded nuts, screws, and holes. Manufactured in a dusty industrial environment concerned, the part was oily and dirty and difficult to reliably inspect.
To address this problem, SAP turned to Edge Vision, which used Cognex In-Sight range of vision systems to inspect the part in the unstable and variable operating environment. To do so, Edge Vision placed an In-Sight 5100 at the end of the arm of a robot. The position of each point to be inspected is then communicated to the robot. The robot then inspects all the points on the part using the In-Sight 5100. Cognex's Patmax was used in conjunction with the system to localize the areas to be inspected.
"By implementing the robotic system using In-Sight vision systems," says David Torres of Edge Vision, SAS has reduced production cycle times by 20%, thus saving money and the same time boosting productivity in the same manner."