4 minute read
Gudel Linear tracks for robots
from AMT DEC/JAN 2023
by AMTIL
Linear Tracks for robots
CNC Design expands its long-term partnership as the Australian and New Zealand distributor of Swiss manufacturer Güdel to distribute products throughout Southeast Asia. This includes the linear track TrackMotion products.
Established in 1954 in Langenthal, Switzerland, Güdel has been family owned for three generations. Today worldwide, the company has around 1,000 employees with more than 20 locations. Güdel is a manufacturer of high-precision machine components, modules and a provider of sophisticated automation solutions. Its spectrum of products ranges from linear guideways, racks, pinions and gearboxes right through to linear tracks and gantry robots. Güdel also assembles its products into solutions with a high degree of control intelligence that can be found in the automotive, tire, metal, rail, intra-logistics, pharmaceutical, renewable energy, wood and aerospace industries. Characterised by its quality and modularity, Güdel products have been a part of CNC Design’s portfolio in Australia and New Zealand for more than ten years. Their linear tracks known as TrackMotion, are well known and applied as the linear track or seventh axis for industrial robots. They support all the major industrial robot manufacturers, including Fanuc, Kuka and ABB. If you want to buy a track, you can buy it with a mechanical interface where you can mount the robot straight onto the carriage from any of those manufacturers. With a global presence, different Güdel offices have different strengths, some specialising in warehousing and logistics, automotive or rail solutions. Generally, the company is a supplier of mechanical systems. Güdel is also control agnostic. They don’t supply the control systems, so if you've got a Siemens system, they'll provide the gearboxes to suit a Siemens motor. If you've got an ABB system, they'll provide the gearboxes to suit that. In January 2021, CNC Design’s distribution partnership with Güdel was extended to Southeast Asia after 12 years in Australia and New Zealand. This now includes Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The Australian business has over 30 years’ experience in the machine tool and automation industries, with knowledgeable people and networks throughout Asia. TrackMotion Floor
Robot positioning systems are long tracks in warehouse, manufacturing, aerospace, and automotive facilities to let one robot perform multiple tasks. Robot linear tracks can extend the working area and reach of an industrial robot by moving it along its tracks – the ‘seventh axis’ for robots is designed to provide translational motion. The track motion gives the robot the ability to cover very large, linear track lengths. For example, if you were using the robot to handle parts in loading and unloading on multiple machines, you could use the linear track to get from machine to machine, removing the need for one robot to sit at one machine which increases its productivity. Güdel‘s TrackMotion Floor (TMF) can move robots with payloads weighing in excess of twelve tonnes and static payloads weighing up to twenty tonnes with excellent repeatability, stability and environmental resilience. The guides are precisely fitted into the closed, welded beam system, helping achieve a high degree of rigidity to absorb the dynamic loads of articulated robots in all directions. TMF has proven to work in both product handling environments and for welding applications. The seventh axis track gives the extended reach or extended range for the robot with welding applications, and secondary carriages allow accessories to be carried. Güdel’s focus on quality translates to a resistance to challenging environmental conditions including dust, paint & weld splatter. They also have engineered special options for very cold environments used in warehousing, with optional anti-corrosion elements for the guideways and racks. You can get linear tracks up to 100 metres in length, so it's fairly unlimited in terms of what you can do with the seventh axis. They come in a range of sizes from TMF-1 to TMF-6, which gives you the ability to handle small to the biggest capacity robots. Linear tracks are not necessarily the core expertise of the robot manufacturers, but they are Güdel’s strength, so businesses have been able to focus on their robots and have the tracks supplied. TrackMotion Overhead
Linear tracks for the overhead installation of robots can enable the ideal configuration for different product processes. The TrackMotion Overhead (TMO) gets the robot off the floor, taking up less space and improving the safety of the working environment. The basic problem the TMO is solving is allowing the robot to work above or beside the machine or process it’s operating on, which saves that floor space where you would’ve had a track bolted to the floor. Depending on how you want your robot to work, you can put it in different orientations on the overhead tracks. These different orientations are split into three configurations – elevated, wall-mounted and ceiling mounted. The ceiling mount configuration is popular for machinetending operations where the robot wants to be above the machine the workpiece and it can reach down into the machine, pick up a part, move it to the next operation and drop it back down. Summary
In general, the track motion again extends the work envelope beyond just the typical arc reach pattern of the robot. We extend that to a much wider area by putting it on the track and putting it on the overhead track allowed us to also have a lot more reach down into the work envelope compared to the floor mount. Robots are a large capital purpose, so people really want to make the most of them. By putting a robot on a track, you can greatly increase the working envelope of the robot. Synonymous with safety and productivity Güdel products can help remove operators from dangerous environments. In what our customers are doing, Güdel helps remove the risk of people being in areas where robots are handling large, heavy and awkward products.
