Adept Technology, one of the planet’s top developers of intelligent vision-guided robotics systems with over three decades in the industry, reported today that the company has broken through to a new paradigm with their latest line of programmable logic controller (PLC) driven robots, which will interface directly with existing PLC controllers like those from Allen Bradley and Siemens.
Adept ePLC Connect Server software makes it a breeze to leverage existing Ethernet/IP architecture, and this new ePLC solution offers operators a streamlined workflow for getting new hardware on the line and running in just a matter of hours. This is a bulletproof alternative to overseas hand labor and hard automation hurdles that can be implemented on existing PLC infrastructure and uses existing connectivity, making it both cheap and easy.
The new line of Adept ePLC bots will be rolled out in ADEP’s already popular formats which range from their Cobra SCARA robot (selective compliant assembly robot arm) to the Python linear modules (Cartesian robots), and include the company’s Quattro parallel and Viper six-axis (articulated) robots. First out the door will be the Cobra ePLC600 and Cobra ePLC800 models, with Python, Quattro, and Viper configurations following shortly thereafter.
President and CEO of leading robot systems integrator MGS Machine Corp., Richard Bahr, extolled the time and cost savings benefits of the new solution, pointing out how his firm managed to simply program in ladder logic and have big libraries of easily reusable code on hand, something which makes it possible to rapidly/seamlessly integrate new hardware. Bahr said they now had their code base to a point where they can just drop in a robot on virtually any of their machines and have it fully integrated/functional within hours, a reality which is truly revolutionary in terms of its impact on sector operators.
The advantages here go way beyond cost savings, ease of use, and not having to pick up another programming language, though. The potential impact for some companies in autonomous mobile tasks, manufacturing, and assembly is truly profound.
The combination of Adept’s solution and an individual company’s own in-house programming skills means that companies can now really think about applying such solutions and transforming their workflows with robotics. Prototyping up and getting new manufacturing lines deployed is a difficult process and without such a solution many firms have structured around antiquated methodologies or out rightly ignored how robot-driven flexible work cells could completely change their expectations about cost and accuracy.
Whether we are talking rapid, high-precision Cobra SCARA work, or gantry and cantilever-based operations handled by the company’s Python linear modules, ePLC represents a new paradigm in both deployability and usability. Innovative designs like the company’s Quattro, which uses advanced control algorithms and is the only parallel or “delta robot” in the world with a four-arm design that has such a large work envelope, will also benefit greatly from this new solution, with more operators than ever now having easy access.
New ePLC bots, as well as a slew of information on the new solution will be presented to the public at the upcoming Hanover Messe fair, a premier industrial technologies showcase event, April 8-12 (hall 17, stand F41).This year’s event will be focusing squarely on just this sort of industrial automation and IT innovation and should prove a major opportunity for ADEP to cement the new offering in the minds of some of the sector’s top players.
To get a close look at Adept Technology, visit www.Adept.com
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