Seiko Epson (Epson)
Canvas Category Machinery : Industrial Robot : SCARA
Since its inception, Epson has passed down and expanded on its traditional strengths as a manufacturing company. Refining the company’s super-microprocessing and precision processing technologies in the development of its watches and then expanding those technologies into other fields led to rapid progress. The breakthrough came with the launch of the EP-101 (Electronic Printer), a popular and groundbreaking product that opened up new markets. It was in the hope of sending future “sons” of this EP out into the world that the Epson brand was founded in 1975. Ever since then, high quality, high-value-added “sons” have been introduced to the market to wide acclaim.
Assembly Line
Look Inside a Research and Demo Lab at Epson Robotics
SCARA robots excel at pick-and-place applications, moving parts along a single horizontal plane, but the increased speed and precision come with some challenges. The weight of the robot and the subtle change in payload and TCP position create ever-changing inertial moments, which can introduce offset and oscillation in settling points. Those are common terms in the motion control industry, but not so much in industrial robots.
Epson tackles this challenge with a combination of hardware, with in-house produced quartz crystals that are used as the basis of multi-axis gyroscope sensors, along with the GYROPLUS software to provide a feedback loop (think PID control, for you motion experts) to constantly project a correct motion path while maintaining extremely high speeds.
3DEO Secures Strategic Investment
3DEO, a Los Angeles-based leader in design, engineering and metal additive manufacturing (AM), today announced a significant investment from the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ) and Seiko Epson Corporation (EPSON). This partnership marks a pivotal step in 3DEO’s expansion and underscores the confidence in its proprietary end-to-end 3D printing technology. The investment will propel 3DEO’s growth strategies in North America and Japan, expanding opportunities for partnership in the semiconductor, aerospace, medical devices and equipment, and industrial sectors.
3DEO’s unique approach focuses on a specialization in complex metal 3D printed components/assemblies and advanced Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), and is underpinned by a differentiated portfolio of 18 patents. 3DEO’s purpose-driven vision empowers customers to innovate and design competitively positioned products, while its end-to-end solution, encompassing proprietary software, metal 3D printers, robotics, and materials, streamlines the production process. This integration significantly reduces the complexity for clients, allowing them to scale up without the burden of mastering AM processes themselves, supported by 3DEO’s comprehensive DfAM training and expertise.
Epson’s Latest High-Power-Density GX-B Series SCARA Robots Designed to Revolutionize Automation Now Available
Leveraging four decades of expertise, the GX-B Series robots are built to meet precise automation demands that help manufacturers tackle the most demanding tasks. Offering multiple arm configurations, handle payloads up to 10 and 20 kg, high throughput and high payloads, the GX10B and GX20B’s versatile features empower machine builders to conquer challenging applications with leading-edge precision.
The GX10B and GX20B are now available through Epson Robots’ channel of distributor partners.
Robots Automate Assembly of Auto Parts
AMG is Husco’s in-house factory automation arm. It designs and builds most of the manufacturing lines for Husco, and it recently began offering its services to outside clients as well.
While many manufacturers, including Husco, have been devoting more and more of their efforts to EVs, increasing the efficiency of internal combustion engines remains important. One crucial development has been the use of variable-force solenoids in car and truck engines. These small devices optimize the opening of the valves that let fuel and air into the cylinders at the heart of each engine, helping to increase both fuel efficiency and horsepower.To reach its goal, the plant would have to produce a fully assembled and tested solenoid every 6.1 seconds. To make that possible, the AMG team developed a modular automated assembly system consisting of a pallet-transfer conveyor and 10 Epson SCARA robots for most of the material handling. They settled on one Epson G6, two G3, and seven T-Series systems.
Husco and AMG most often use Epson T-Series robots for pick and place operations, but upgrade to the G-Series when they need higher speed and accuracy.
Fabless Semiconductor Innovator Stathera Announces US $15M Series A Funding Round
Stathera Inc., a leading provider of MEMS (Micro-electromechanical Systems) timing solutions, announced today that the company has raised $15 Million in a Series A funding round. The round was co-led by BDC Capital’s Deep Tech Venture Fund and Celesta Capital, with additional participation from strategic investors including MediaTek, Seiko Epson, and TXC.
“Technology scaling using conventional timing architectures has hit a wall when it comes to synchronizing next-generation electronics. Stathera’s technology introduces a new approach to integrating and manufacturing timing devices,” said George Xereas, Stathera’s CEO and Co-founder. “We are excited to be the only company with state-of-the-art DualModeTM frequency technology, which has the potential to re-architect the entire $9.4 Billion electronics timing industry. We are grateful to our investors for recognizing and investing in this potential, which will allow us to expand our world class team and drive commercialization.”
🦾 How to Address Tradeoffs in Robot Performance
Innovations in robotic automation have allowed manufacturers in countless industries to achieve higher throughput, improved quality, and safer working environments. But choosing a robot for an automation task often involves balancing tradeoffs between three key performance criteria: speed, payload, and precision. In other words, to achieve high precision, a user may have to sacrifice somewhat on the application’s speed and payload. Alternatively, if the robot’s payload is increased, the operating speed may need to be reduced. The underlying cause of these performance tradeoffs is vibration of the robot arm.