Pioneer of collaborative robots showcases new cobot-assisted, mobile and modular tabletop system featuring vision-guided multiple part feeding and kitting with conveyor tracking and case loading/unloading.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--While most robotic cells and automated machinery in the market are stationary solutions designed to complete one task for their usable life, Universal Robots Certified System Integrator, Allied Technology, has taken a new approach.

"We believe a robot cell should be modular, flexible, and easy to use. The systems we design are scalable and allow for a company to easily make changes when production has new requirements or a new product to run," says President of Allied Technology, Mike Halley, adding that Universal Robots has given Allied Technology a great advantage in a market where high mix/low volume is becoming the norm. "The UR robots are simple to program from a low and high-level standpoint and holds the collaborative certifications required to support our unique, flexible robot cell designs."

Allied Technologys new mobile tabletop system will be showcased in Universal Robots PACK EXPO booth S-8257, September 25-27 in Las Vegas, NV, and includes:

Intelligent Part Feeder using Vision Guidance to singulate multiple different small parts
Articulating End of Arm Tooling to pick multiple parts
Conveyor Tracking and automation for crowding groups of parts on a conveyor
Variety pack case loading and unloading of cases to be resorted
All self-contained on a mobile tabletop system
Also showcased in Universal Robots booth is a new demo featuring a UR10 collaborative robot that invites attendees to interact by interrupting its palletizing routine by pressing a button, prompting the cobot to present a bottle of water to attendees. This demo shows several different types of applications/uses for the robot:

Palletizing/de-palletizing with flexible use:
This type of application utilizes the UR to remove items from a tray, cart, box, or any other container that can be placed by the robot. After removing the items from a tray, the operator can use the robot for any number of operations, examples would be inspection, machine loading, presenting to an operator, or even manipulating the parts around other equipment.

Interpreting input from outside resources:
The UR10 robot is constantly monitoring for a signal from the button and once received, the programming uses a logic check to then maneuver the robot into performing a different action which, in this case, is presenting the water bottle to the person who requested one. Interpreting digital signals or more complex communication allows the UR Robot to perform a multitude of tasks depending on whats needed and when.

"We see a collaborative robot as a tool on demand - one that can quickly be transitioned between packaging tasks to streamline production planning. Flexibility in manufacturing involves ability to deal with variation in volumes, design and material handling as well as variations in the process sequences. We look forward to showcasing these important capabilities at PACK EXPO," says Craig Tomita, Area Sales Manager at Universal Robots.

Unlike investments in traditional robotic cells that are caged, pre-programmed and designed for a single purpose, the multi-purpose UR robot offers a lower threshold for investment and offers more possibilities over the life of the investment. The robot arms can be plugged directly into a wall outlet and are so easy to program and set up that the typical "out of box experience" is less than an hour. With more than 16,000 UR cobots now deployed worldwide, Universal Robots has a 60 percent share of the cobot market and has documented the production benefits in a wide range of packaging and palletizing case studies.

UR cobots will also be showcased in these PACK EXPO exhibits:

ADCO Manufacturing - booth C-3243
The leading manufacturer of packaging machinery and complete end-of-line systems will showcase an integrated packaging system featuring a Universal Robots model UR5 cobot mated to an ADCO model Compact 4 vertical rotary cartoner. Aside from the safety and ease of deployment benefits, the UR5 robot will demonstrate its proficiency and precision in repetitively picking and placing small objects. The Compact 4 will automatically erect each carton, present it to the product load area and then seal each carton after the UR5 loads the product.

"Universal Robots enable us to quickly and cost-effectively address many customer needs that previously required more complex and expensive fixed automation or industrial robotic solutions. The inherent simplicity, flexibility and safe operating parameters of all UR products certainly opens up doors many new and different automation opportunities," says Scott Reed, Vice President of ADCO Manufacturing.

Belden - booth S-8181
Belden, a leader in signal transmission solutions, will partner with Universal Robots to showcase their combined innovative solutions; Universal Robots UR3 cobot will be controlled by Beldens Lumberg Automation LioN-P μDCU via discrete commands in a pick and place application.

"With the rise in smart, connected devices brought on by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), it is necessary to prepare your infrastructure and make sense of the influx of data," shared Tim Senkbeil, Product Line Manager with Belden. "The LioN-P μDCU solution helps simplify this by providing the functionality of a PLC with the ability to handle less complex applications locally and much more cost-effectively than would be the case if a PLC was utilized."

Dorner Mfg. Corp. - booth C-1444
Dorner will be showcasing a new demo featuring three Dorner conveyors and a UR5 robot, provided to Dorner by Braas Co., an authorized Dorner and UR distributor. The integrated display shows small bottles accumulate on two Dorner 2200 Series Belted Conveyors running in opposite directions. Once the product singulates, it transfers on to a Dorner 1100 Series Conveyor and waits to be picked by the UR5. The robot then places the bottle back in a specified location to rejoin the accumulated product. Dorner elected to use the UR5 robot due to the ease of integration and the collaborative safety feature.

FP Developments - booth N-414
FP Developments Inc. designs and manufactures fully integrated collaborative robotic work cells for small scale pharmaceutical and medical device production. The company will present three live UR robot demos during the show:

September 25, 2017
11:00 AM "Cobotic Inspection" FP manufactures robotic systems for inspection; the cobot handles all the products and provides consistent positioning for precise inspection.

September 26, 2017
11:00 AM "Robotic Syringe Filling" Robotic Syringe Fillers are a hands-free automatic syringe filling system designed to operate within a typical LAF booth.

September 27, 2017
11:00 AM "Robotic Syringe Labeling" The RSL handles syringes & provides consistent positioning for precise application without offline/pre-printing & offers presentation for inspection.

Secomea Inc. - booth S-7476
Secomea is the industrys leading IoT remote access provider with the worlds only end-to-end independently security certified 2017 solution. The company will showcase how UR robots can be upgraded with remote access in minutes, enabling users to effortlessly and securely access their UR robots 24/7 anywhere in the world. A UR robot with IoT remote access and alert notifications significantly reduces critical downtime, out of supply situations, travel time and costs.

About Universal Robots
Universal Robots is the result of many years of intensive research at Denmark's successful robot cluster, which is located in Odense, Denmark. The company was co-founded in 2005 by the companys CTO, Esben Østergaard, who wanted to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced, flexible industrial robots that are safe to work with and on their own can be used to streamline processes in the industry. The product portfolio includes the collaborative UR3, UR5 and UR10 robotic arms named after their payload in kilos. Since the first UR robot launched in December 2008, the company has experienced considerable growth with the user-friendly robots now sold in more than 50 countries worldwide. At just 195 days, the average payback period for UR robots is the fastest in the industry. The company, a part of Boston-based Teradyne Inc., is headquartered in Odense and has subsidiaries and regional offices in the U.S., Spain, Germany, Singapore, Czech Republic, India, and China. Universal Robots has more than 300 employees worldwide.

Learn more at: www.universal-robots.com.