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OnRobot launches advanced magnetic gripper for safe and precise cobot applications

OnRobot has launched the MG10, a versatile, high-performance, easy-to-use magnetic gripper for material handling, assembly, and machine tending applications in manufacturing, automotive, and aerospace environments. The gripper is fully compatible with all major robot brands through OnRobot's One System Solution.

The new MG10 gripper is ready to take over machine tending, assembly, and material handling tasks that were once performed by costly and complex pneumatic grippers. Applications include multi-stage bending press tasks and handling parts with many holes, where vacuum and finger-type grippers simply don't have the intelligence and power to succeed. The MG10 can handle such tasks with ease, whether the workpiece is a metal blank, a punched steel part, or a perforated steel sheet.

The MG10 also provides precise and durable handling of objects with abrasive, uneven, or perforated surfaces. On top of that, the MG10's multi-magnet setup ensures that this gripper can handle a wide range of sizes, weights, and parts with odd-shaped geometries.

The MG10 offers unique adjustable force and grip detection features that provide users with unprecedented levels of control. Standard magnetic grippers only provide simple ON/OFF functionality. To adjust the force applied, users have to add rubber "feet" to create space between the magnet and the part. This is a tedious and imprecise process that doesn't always guarantee perfect results, especially on applications that involve handling thin metal sheets and small metal parts where magnetic grippers often accidentally pick up more than one sheet or part because the force cannot be adjusted.

"Standard magnetic grippers are a real hassle because almost every time your application or workpiece changes, you have to make manual adjustments to compensate for the gripper's lack of functionality," says Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO of OnRobot. "OnRobot's innovative MG10 gripper eliminates all that thanks to its adjustable force features that enable you to deploy precise material handling applications quickly and easily."

Unlike standard magnetic grippers, the MG10 comes with built-in grip and sensors for part detection. For applications that involve handling sheet metal -- such as machine tending tasks that require robots to lift sheet metal from a stack, place it into a press brake/press bending machine, and remove it when the machine has completed its work -- this functionality ensures smooth, consistent, and safe operation. As a bonus, if the robot loses power or has to make an e-stop while performing a task, these features ensure that there is no risk of dropping the part being handled.

"As the manufacturing sector moves towards low-volume/high-mix production, the ability to move quickly from one application setup to another is more than a 'nice to have.' It's essential," says Iversen. "The MG10 is the only magnetic gripper on the market that's sufficiently versatile, intelligent, and so easy to use that it can be quickly redeployed on tasks from machine tending and palletizing to de-stacking of metal sheets -- and all in one no-fuss, no-nonsense, plug-and-play package."

Learn more at onrobot.com/en/products/mg10.

Source: OnRobot

Published March 2021

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