We have been living in uncertain times. The pandemic has changed how we work, socialize, and disrupted our sense of community. CIMTEC has searched for stories of inspiration to share with our customers to let you know we are not alone in our experience and to understand how others are coping. This story in its entirety can be found on UR’s blog page
These stories show how Universal Robots are being used in the battle against COVID-19 by making N95 face masks, exceptional face shields and a remote controlled mobile cobot performing key medical tests in China.
Hurco North America Challenge: Adapt a Machine Tool into a System for Making N95 Masks
As COVID-19 began its spread in the United States, Hurco North America (a machine tool supplier headquartered in Indiana) chose to deploy a UR5 cobot integrated with the ProFeeder from UR Certified Systems Integrator ProCobots to tend a heated mold for shaping the mask. The UR5 loads a stack of four plies, two polymer outer layers and two spun-fiber filter layers, and these become a mask through a five-minute cycle involving molding, welding and cutting. Thanks to the system, Hurco is able to produce masks for all its employees with enough left over to donate to customers and distributors.
RevTech Systems Challenge: Adapt a Machine Tool into a System for Face Shields
Revtech Systems, a Universal Robots CSI from Quebec, Canada, also launched an internal challenge that saw groups of 3-4 employees join forces to design a face shield that could be produced in high quantities, fast. Once the final design was chosen, the team quickly set up a cell with a human operator and two UR10 cobots.
The process begins when one of the cobots grabs a plastic sheet and places it on a station. The second cobot then picks up a foam piece that’s glued to cardboard and places it on the plastic sheet. The same cobot then takes an elastic piece pulls it over the foam to the other side, and a pneumatic mechanism staples the elastic to the cardboard and plastic. Then the first cobot takes the plastic sheet and moves it to the next stopper to be stapled and finally places the completed face shield in a box.
Within just four weeks, the production cell was producing an amazing 700+ face shields per day!
Tsinghua University’s Mobile Medical Cobot System
In China, researchers at Tsinghua University have created a mobile medical cobot system that performs ultrasounds, takes mouth swabs, performs temperature checks and can operate a stethoscope. The system, which incorporates a UR5 on wheels, can be remotely controlled, protecting doctors and nurses against direct contact with COVID-19 patients. After being trialed by doctors at hospitals in Beijing, the remarkably versatile system has now been deployed at the Wuhan Union Hospital.
Universal Robots has revolutionized cobot set-up, reducing deployment time from weeks to hours. The average set-up time reported by our customers is only half a day. The experience for an untrained operator to unpack the robot, mount it, and program the first simple task is typically less than an hour.
CIMTEC engineers are trained and experienced with all of the Universal Robots line of cobots, let us show you the power behind the robot and what is possible! 877.524.6832
