Page 32 - MMI- Aug2022

– system modules that can be used to integrate
additional functions such as a camera.

Advantages through internal media feed
All modules are interconnected via the ATRO
interface, which guarantees a rigid connection
and also passes through the media that is fed in.
Data, power, and fluids (compressed air, vacuum,
or water) are thus guided internally through the
modules in the ATRO kinematics. Conventional
robotic solutions, on the other hand, route them
externally and are, therefore, limited in rotation
and use of the workspace. This limitation is com-
pletely eliminated with the Beckhoff solution –
each axis can be rotated endlessly, which enables
better Cartesian accessibility as well as short posi-
tioning paths. Furthermore, interfering contours,
e.g., due to externally located cables and, especial-
ly in the case of cobots, interfering torques, are
avoided by means of external media feed. In addi-
tion, the media are supplied again for a customer
application via the ATRO interfaces, and almost
any robotic tool can be easily integrated, such as
sophisticated gripper systems.

System integration without limits
With ATRO, Beckhoff offers a highly flexible robot
system that has all essential machine functional-
ities due to its deep integration into the TwinCAT
automation software. These include, for example,
image processing for sophisticated applications
(bin picking), improvement of motion performance
through machine learning, or direct cloud integra-
tion for analysis and maintenance. The use of open
interfaces and universal standards enables plug-
and-play of the created robot configuration as well
as simple engineering. This variety of functions
concentrated in one control minimizes hardware
costs and also ensures maximum synchronization
of all components as well as low delays in data
communication. This also includes the direct com-
bination with intelligent transport solutions such
as XTS and XPlanar. Other areas such as communi-
cation, functional safety, and the actual application
can be created with little effort. This not only en-
ables the configuration of an extremely powerful
overall solution with maximized system output,
but also a previously unattainable reduction in
machine footprint.

A highlight of the system is the internal media
feed for data, power, and fluids. This has been
implemented in such a way that all axes are
designed to rotate endlessly.

32 | July-August 2022 Modern Manufacturing India