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The engineering community knows full well that an automobile factory does not take raw material in at one door, and eject finished vehicles out the opposite side. There are so many subassemblies, systems and accessories in the modern car that it would be utterly impractical to manufacture everything under one roof.
 Enterprise Automotive Systems, Warren, MI (which was Machining Enterprises Inc up until March 31 of this year), is a major contributor to the overall development of automotive components, serving Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive and non-automotive markets. Their expertise ranges from product design to prototype design, development and testing as well as advanced quality planning programs and extensive research and development. EAS offers a diversity of manufacturing commodities, both simple and complex, including assembled components, and machined and fabricated parts from forgings and castings made from all manufacturing processes or grades in aluminum, iron or steel. Typical components produced by the company are power train and suspension components, engine mounts, control arms, steering knuckles, links, accessory drive brackets, and intake and exhaust manifolds.
Taking control
Amongst tasks performed at the company’s sister facility in Saginaw, MI, is a cubing operation on engine blocks and heads for new engines that power several sport utility vehicles. Cubing is necessary for validating the castings before they are shipped to a major automotive company’s engine plant. This operation involves machining on various surfaces, including the combustion chamber, the intake face, and the exhaust face. With the help of robots from FANUC Robotics interfaced to GE Fanuc’s CIMPLICITY Machine Edition software running on Control Station NTs, engineers at the plant are able to identify problems early in the production process, providing advance feedback to the major automotive manufacturer for problem solving and process adjustments.
The plant floor features three machining work cells, each of which contains four Niigata horizontal machining centers. There are two side-by-side machines that run blocks, and two more that run heads, also side-by-side. A pair of FANUC M-710iT six-axis overhead rail-mounted robots services each cell.
“Typically, one robot services two machines, but two of our three cells are flexible, so one robot can perform two different tasks such as manufacturing blocks and heads side by side,” says Brian Verzinski, manufacturing process engineer at EAS. A robot traverses between two centers, working on one part, then stops and changes its end-of-arm tool (EOAT) to work on the other part, then stops and changes the tool again, and so on.
GE Fanuc’s CIMPLICITY Machine Edition software, running on Control Station NT industrial computers, interfaces between the robots and the Niigata machining centers. A single Control Station controls the two flexible cells, each of which is equipped with two additional Control Station NTs that serve as operator interfaces. The third cell uses one Control Station NT for control and one as an operator interface. CIMPLICITY Machine Edition transmits information received from the machining centers to the robot.
“A number of conditions must be met before a robot can execute a command; for example, determining whether a part is present, whether the light curtain is clear, and whether the robot has completed the previous task,” Verzinski says.
Each controller has two separate I/O channels. One channel of Series 90-30 I/O interfaces via Ethernet with the robots, and one channel of DeviceNet interfaces with conveyors using VersaMax I/O. These conveyor transfer lines shuttle parts between the machining centers.
Installation issues
“This is a complex robotic operation. This new solution has provided both manufacturing and enhanced process advantages,” Verzinski says.
Speed was of major concern. The goal was to perform a unique “A” and “B” load on each machining center within the machining cycle time. Fanuc demonstrated this process by creating a computer simulation model prior to equipment build. The simulation was later proven by an equipment trial run on Fanuc’s factory floor. A CIMPLICITY Machine Edition interface was able to keep pace with this demanding requirement while providing the required level of reliability.
 Installing and commissioning the system went “extremely well,” according to Verzinski. “We wanted a four hour fault-free run the first time out, and we got it. We made a few minor I/O changes once we saw how the robot was processing the parts, but that’s about it.”
Given the complexity of this manufacturing environment, the graphical interface has a relatively simple screen layout to simplify the operation. “It takes about a month for new employees to learn how to run it, but that’s reasonable based on the application,” Verzinski says. GE Fanuc provided initial training, and internal staff now teaches new employees.
The overhead rail-mounted FANUC robots have saved valuable floor space, machine tool access and investment for EAS, since one robot can service two machining centers. “In addition,” Verzinski says, “designing and building a safety interlock system was easier with the overhead robot than it would have been on any other type.”
For more information:
Enterprise Automotive Systems, connect directly to their website
at www.rsleads.com/306df-234
GE Fanuc, Booth 9540, or
connect directly to their website at www.rsleads.com/306df-235
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Managing Robot Machinists
UKA Robotics Corp, Sterling Heights, MI, produces a complete range of mechanically advanced, PC-controlled robots for automating applications such as palletizing, machine tending, material handling, packaging, cutting, material removal, and welding. Of particular note are their robots that featured in an action sequence in the new Bond film Die Another Day, and are used in the white knuckle ride RoboCoaster seen at various theme parks. In many applications, fast implementation and smooth changeover to new or modified production lines require the ability to install and set up end-of-arm tooling as quickly and efficiently as possible. Traditionally, one major area of concern has been “Robot Dressing,” the mass of cabling and tubing around the robot. In the automotive industry, where manufacturing plants consist of numerous cells handling a large variety of tasks spread over large areas and distances, the industrial robot is dominant, and Robot Dressing becomes a major headache.