XYZ debuts Robo-Tend alongside HP 3D printers

Developed in collaboration with Stockport's Adelphi Automation, Robo-Tend is based around a self-contained KUKA Cybertech KR10 R1420 robot, with a rated total load of 10kg. The robot is managed via the KUKA KRC4 compact robot controller, integrated within the system’s handle, which is used to manoeuvre and reposition the robot in front of the machine. An onboard vision system is then used to calibrate it using the orientation plate fixed to the machine.

According to XYZ managing director Nigel Atherton, the new system’s versatility and modular approach makes automation available to manufacturers of all sizes, freeing up vital human resources as well as improving productivity.

"There's a lot of people with robots out there, but we wanted to have something that was very simple," Atherton told The Engineer. "We've come up with a drawer system. The way that it works is that you don't have to have masses of the same component, you literally can have different components in every drawer, and it'll just put them into the fixer or the vice and machine, lights out."