ZOLLER | MAGAZINE 2019

61 Z.magazine 2019 AU TOMAT I ON This allows robots – and people as well – to move directly to this location to remove the tool or component. Each removal and each booking can be tracked from any work station, and the current storage location of every tool is known. Integrated tool identifi­ cation, in conjunction with a reader unit, verifies the selected tool. This allows associated tool data to be accessed from the z.One database. Today, »cora« can already operate a presetting and measuring machine as a static system. Tools are placed on a rack or tool cart. »cora« removes one tool at a time and identifies it using the RFID chip. Then she places it in the presetting and measuring machine. Thanks to networking, tool data are already loaded, and the measuring procedure is saved. The measuring procedure then starts automatically. Afterward, »cora« removes the measured tool and places it in the tool cart or back in the rack. The tool data are saved in the database and available for subsequent processes. When the measured tools are inserted into the machine, the tool is once again identified via its RFID chip, and tool data can be read in by the machine controller. During the next step of its evolution, »cora« will not only grip, insert, remove and transport tools, but align them as well. Screw-fitting stations and other supplies on the workbench are the foundation for transferring these tasks to the robot as well. Heat shrinking tools is a process that can already handled fully automatically today by a robot. Networked: Thanks to a connection to the z.One database and TMS Tool Management Solutions, »cora« can independently store and provide tools. »CORA«, THE COLLABORATIVE ROBOTIC ASSISTANT Even though making »cora«, the collaborative robotic assistant, mobile is still a project for the future, the technical requirements for the scenario we’ve described above are already a reality today. The goal is to assign standard tasks to robots, which will complete them alongside humans in production. This is one way to counteract the lack of skilled pro­ fessionals that is already affecting the manufacturing workforce. With tool management software like ZOLLER TMS Tool Management Solutions in conjunction with Smart Cabinet storage systems, tools can already be assigned permanent positions today.