The KUKA flexFELLOW as a kitchen assistant
The KUKA flexFELLOW “knight” concept with the LBR iiwa opens up further areas of application which extend well beyond conventional industrial robotics. For example, employees in a commercial or hospital kitchen can benefit from the flexible and mobile robot application. The underlying concept: the sensitive helper based on the LBR iiwa independently and reliably assumes tasks at the end of the portioning conveyor which are arduous for human workers. It takes hold of the fully assembled food trays for the patients from the conveyor and places them in the awaiting distribution trolleys. Or vice versa: it removes the trays from the wheeled racks and places them on a conveyor. The advantage is that hospital employees have a flexible assistant at their service for monotonous and ergonomically unfavorable tasks and can thus devote themselves to other tasks. The integrated safety functions of the LBR iiwa allow the KUKA flexFELLOW to work directly with humans. The robot can thus be easily integrated into existing commercial kitchens without the need for physical safeguards.
The KUKA flexFELLOW as an assembly assistant
The “knight” concept based on the KUKA flexFELLOW is ideal for car body production due to its flexibility and modularity. Non-ergonomic tasks such as overhead work or leaning into the vehicle interior can be avoided by employing the mobile “robot colleague”. The application shown here demonstrates the automated insertion of plastic plugs. Integrated torque sensors allow the robot to determine the exact fitting position with a search motion. The LBR iiwa lightweight robot can take over this monotonous process using its end effector – a plugsetting tool specially designed by KUKA Systems and suitable for human-robot collaboration (HRC).
The KUKA flexFELLOW not only supports non-ergonomic tasks, but also guarantees improved process quality by performing a continuous setpoint/actual value comparison between the required insertion pattern of the plugs and the plugs which have actually been fitted. The comparison of the force applied when setting a plug makes it possible to document accuracy of fit and quality checks.
The KUKA flexFELLOW as a production assistant
The KUKA flexFELLOW can also be used as a “knight” concept in production scenarios. The sensitive characteristics of the LBR iiwa and the flexible concept approach allow the mobile helper to operate alongside the worker – without the need for a physical safety fence. Safe human-robot collaboration (HRC) contributes to the more efficient organization of production processes. In addition, the robot application is relocatable, allowing the worker to move the KUKA flexFELLOW to the desired workplace, for example to load machine tools. In the application displayed here, the LBR iiwa lightweight robot mounted on its mobile platform independently loads the friction welding machine using a special gripper system suitable for HRC. The robot then removes the component and sets it down. This eliminates wait times for the worker during the welding process, allowing him to focus his full attention on other tasks, such as the quality inspection of the components.