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13.
June
2017.
New robot lends precision and reliability to the production of hearing aids

 

Ref: UR/024

Date of issue: May 2017

 

New robot lends precision and reliability to the production of hearing aids

 

Hearing aid device manufacturer Oticon required a more flexible robot to handle the tiny hearing device components in its production. The company had been using robot technology for the past 10 years. But, as the minute components became increasingly smaller in order to make the hearing aids more comfortable, the existing two- and three-axes robots used in manufacturing were no longer suitable. They could not perform the required lateral and vertical movements sufficiently. If for instance a small part is stuck in a mould, the robot should be dexterous enough to tip it out.

 

"The parts for modern hearing aids are getting smaller and are often only a millimetre in size. We looked for a solution that can suction small parts out of a mould. This was impossible manually. We needed a more flexible solution that would also be economically viable for smaller production runs," said Arne Oddershede, group leader of the maintenance unit at Oticon.

 

Intuitive user guidance and the precision of the Universal Robots, were the features that convinced Oticon. Also, rapid advances in medical engineering have resulted in constantly changing production processes and a broader range of hearing aid models that require a flexible robot handling smaller batch sizes. Small components such as wax filters are barely a millimetre in size.

 

Mounted firmly to the injection moulding machine, the robot can position itself over the mould and suction the plastic elements using a specially designed vacuum system. This is possible due to a suction tool that can accommodate up to four tiny components simultaneously. The UR5 from Universal Robots is programmed to only engage the suction mechanism when the mould is open. Once it has taken the parts, the robot draws away, and the injection moulding machine prepares for a new operation. All the components from the same mould are subsequently collected in separate tubes to ensure that they can be traced correctly. The vacuum system also ensures that the sensitive elements are not damaged.

 

Because of its six axes, the UR5 is verymaneuverableand can rotate or tilt the parts in order to lift them quickly out of the mould. The robot works in four- to seven-second cycles depending on the size of the production run and the component. More complex moulded components are handled with pneumatic gripping tools.


It took just one day to install the robot for its new task in Oticon's moulding shop. "Since we produce different batch sizes and components when developing new products, it must be possible to easily reprogram the robot. With a traditional robot, this involves a computer and requires specially-trained staff, typically a programmer. But with the UR5, any member of the technical staff can literally grab the robot and show it the motion sequence using waypoints," he continued.

 

The robot comes with a fitted safety mode that allows staff to work alongside the robot without any additional safety shielding. There is a sensor installed in each joint that notices when the robotic arm requires more force for a given movement than previously calculated, for example when an arm or a foot is in the way. The robot will stop working immediately if a counter pressure of 150 Newton is detected. This safety mode has been certified by the Danish Technological Institute in accordance with the European ISO Standard 10218.

 

-ENDS-

 

Photo caption:The UR5 is programmed to only engage the suction mechanism when the mould is open. It took just one day to install the robot for its new task in Oticon's moulding shop.

 

About Universal Robots

Universal Robots is the result of many years of intensive research at Denmark's successful robot cluster, which is located in Odense, Denmark. The company was co-founded in 2005 by the company's CTO, Esben Østergaard, who wanted to make robot technology accessible to all by developing small, user-friendly, reasonably priced, flexible industrial robots that are safe to work with and on their own can be used to streamline processes in the industry. The product portfolio includes the collaborative UR3, UR5 and UR10 robotic arms named after their payload in kilos. Since the first UR robot launched in December 2008, the company has experienced considerable growth with the user-friendly robots now sold in more than 50 countries worldwide. At just 195 days, the average payback period for UR robots is the fastest in the industry. The company, a part of Boston-based Teradyne Inc., is headquartered in Odense and has subsidiaries and regional offices in the U.S., Spain, Germany, Singapore, Czech Republic, India, and China. Universal Robots has more than 270 employees worldwide.www.universal-robots.com

 

 

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New River Industrial Communications

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