Smart stacking – Lenze integrates robotics into the portal

Engineering becoming simple thanks to ready robotics solution FAST from Lenze

Everywhere, where material is stacked, palletized or transferred, portal systems are used, frequently driven by PLC controlled position drives. A more elegant approach is to use portal robots kinematics and coordinated three-dimensional multiple axes.

The benefits are clear: higher productivity, more flexibility and reduced costs. However, the use of fully-developed robot functions often fails because of complex programming and missing robotics know-how on the part of the machine-builders.

The conversion from simple positioning to multiple axes movements provides benefits for both the machine-builder and its customer. Gentle, synchronous driving profiles are treating the mechanics of the machine much more carefully compared to point-to-point single-axis positioning. In addition this solution may be clearly more energy efficiently enabling at the same time faster operations with both smaller drives and fewer performances.

The FAST technology module for pick & place makes applications simple: It turns robotics into a drive solution that can easily be parametrized in the same way as single-axis positioning. PLC controlled portals with successively running movement commands can be substituted very well.

FAST provides a powerful, entire robotics core with six degrees of freedom. The robotics is divided into kinematics and path planning so that the path can be independently planned of the kinematics. It’s only about how the movement job looks like and not how a robot is to be programmed.

Even ambitious coordinated multiple axes drive networks can be used in a fast and safe manner by this software solution without special knowledge about robot programming. Not absorbed any more by movement programming, the machine-builder saves valuable time for things that matter, i.e. the engineering of the actual machine functions and the optimization of the processes – which in total increases his competitive ability.

The FAST concept supports the modularity of machines. Machine modules are reliably projectable by the standardized software modules and can be reused.