Robots take the strain
April 1st 2007 Three powerful robots are protecting human workers from the risks of RSI at a manufacturer of suspended flooring panels. Suspended floors allow cabling to be run freely to each workstation without causing a slip hazard or looking unsightly. Access to the cabling is by lifting one or more panels. Panels are made of steel clad chipboard and weigh 12kg each. Originally a conveyor belt collected them from production cells, transporting them to the packing area, where they were manually stacked 38 high onto forklift pallets. Sterling Paatz who led the design and installation team from Barr & Paatz, comments "This was hard physical labour. The first few panels onto the pallets had the operatives bending over; the last few had them stretching up. Additionally, every other panel has to be inverted." The solution was provided by three Mitsubishi RV12SL robots. These have a payload of 14kg, reach of 1.4m and, with six axes of motion, manipulation is easily accomplished. Mitsubishi Electric offers a range of articulated-arm robots, from small units to the mighty RV-S series. More articles from Mitsubishi Electric Europe: | 
