A contribution to optimal loading/unloading performance in automatic press feeding: the MANPRESS Robot

Abstract

This paper presents the MANPRESS robot: a simple, low-cost and newly developed industrial device primarily devoted to press feeding. This robot exhibits two major features: great flexibility to accommodate different machines and products, and optimal performance in loading/unloading one or more machines. The first is due to the usage of modular, off the shelf and easy to control system components. The second is the result of the devising and implementation of modern control algorithms derived from discrete event systems theory. Loading/unloading strategies that can be used in automatic press feeding and their associated performance is an actual and important subject, but seldom noticed in current scientific literature. Contributing to fill this gap, this is the major subject of the present paper. A case study is provided illustrating the developed theory. Moreover, the same case study shows that in a realistic scenario a gain in performance of 15% can be easily achieved when the proper loading/unloading strategy is used. However, and in practice, such a benefit can only be attained from a simple to control and very flexible loading/unloading device such as the MANPRESS robot. Thus, the main mechanical and control features of the robot are also described in this paper.