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Nov 05, 2023

FANUC to Demonstrate Robot and Cobot Solutions at PACK EXPO International

See it at PACK EXPO International, Booth N-6116! FANUC America will highlight

See it at PACK EXPO International, Booth N-6116! FANUC America will highlight its latest robot and cobot solutions for picking, packing, and palletizing.

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FANUC will showcase the DR-3iB/6 STAINLESS robot that uses 3DV iRVision® and iRPickTool line tracking software to pick randomly oriented pieces of chicken from a continuous infeed conveyor. Equipped with a soft robotics gripper, the robot picks chicken breasts and reorients them onto an outfeed conveyor. The cell features high-speed picking with product re-orientation.

"The DR-3iB/6 Stainless is FANUC's stainless steel food-grade delta robot for picking and packing primary foods," said Jessica Juhasz, staff engineer, FANUC America. "With an IP69K rating, the robot meets USDA and FDA food safety standards, which will help companies increase their production efficiencies without compromising food safety."

The DR-3iB/6 STAINLESS features a fully enclosed stainless steel body that is resistant to the chemicals and high pressure/temperatures required in strict wash down environments. It has a 1200mm reach (450mm height) and a powerful four-axis design allowing it to handle 6kg payloads at high speeds. The robot's mirror-like surface finish ensures that any microbial contaminants can be washed away cleanly. With additional features such as NSF H1 food grade lubricant, secondary oil catch basins (with viewing windows to monitor potential leaks), self-draining surfaces and many other small details driven by USDA/FDA standards, the DR-3iB/6 STAINLESS is ideally suited for primary food handling applications.

The new robot operates with FANUC's latest R-30iB Plus controller with integrated intelligent functions such as iRVision, Force Sensing, Robot Link, Collision Guard, and Zero Down Time (ZDT).

CRX Cobot DemonstrationsEarlier this year, FANUC expanded its series of CRX collaborative robots with the new CRX-5iA, CRX-20iA/L, and CRX-25iA. The CRX cobots are extremely robust and able to run for eight years without maintenance. Easy-to-use interactive programming enables users to teach points using hand guidance or a tablet interface with drag and drop icons. The new CRX cobots complement FANUC's existing line of CR and CRX cobots that now total 11 model variations able to handle products from 4 to 35kg.

Palletizing - The CRX-25iA robot (shown), offering a 25kg payload and 1,889mm reach will demonstrate case palletizing. Guided by a 3DV/200 vision sensor mounted to the arm, the CRX-25iA will palletize boxes to nearly 7 ft high. In addition, the CRX-25iA will be mounted to a mobile cart to showcase its flexibility.

The robot can be easily repositioned by hand and uses vision to automatically adjust to its new location and continue working accurately.

Loading Storage Carts – The CRX-20iA/L cobot equipped with a 3DV/200 vision sensor will pick consumer items of varying sizes and shapes that weigh up to 20kg and load them onto a storage cart. The demonstration highlights the cobot's wide motion range and ability to handle large and heavy packages, relieving workers from physically demanding jobs.

Packing - A CRX-10iA will demonstrate packing health and beauty products. Attendees are invited to try the cobot's intuitive hand guidance and easy-to-use tablet programming.

FANUC will also demonstrate its new Food-Grade M-10iD/12 robot picking bags of rice off dual conveyors and packing them into a box. The demonstration highlights the robot's speed and flexibility to handle various payloads.

With the release of two new Food-Grade variants, the M-10iD/12 and larger M-20iD/25, FANUC has further expanded its offerings for customers in the food industry that need high-speed and high-payload robots. Both units feature food-grade oil on all axes, stainless steel wrist flanges, motor covers, corrosion-resistant fasteners, white epoxy paint and the Severe Dust & Liquid Protection package.

In addition to the new M-10iD/12 and M-20iD/25 Food-Grade variants, the M-10iD and M-20iD robot series include six additional compact material handling robots - the M-10iD/12, M-10iD/10L, M-10iD/8L, M-10iD/16S, M-20iD/35, and M-20iD/12L. Rated best-in-class for speed and repeatability, the M-10iD and M-20iD robots offer a sleek and lightweight design and feature hollow wrists/J3 axes. A curved J2 robot arm minimizes interference with work pieces and fixtures. The robots’ payload capabilities range from 8-35kg, allowing them to handle a wide variety of products. Also, a long reach (1103mm to 2272mm) and stroke – even in the backflip region – makes it easier for customers to apply the robots while maximizing their available workspace – including larger parts or tooling.

Extra environmental protections such as FoundryPRO are available on select robots, and the M-10iD/12 can also be configured with a Dustproof Wrist Cover.

Also being demonstrated is the SR-3iA/C has a 3kg payload and 400mm reach. It features a white epoxy coating and is rated IP54, meaning it is protected against contamination from limited amounts of dust and other particles as well as water spray. The SR-3iA/C is rated ISO Class 5 for cleanroom operation and uses NSF-H1 food-grade grease and anti-rust bolts for food handling applications.

An LR Mate 200iD/7LC and SR-6iA/C – both cleanroom robots - will assemble four breakfast sandwiches. First, the LR Mate 200iD/7LC uses iRVision 3D to pick and place a bun on a plate. At the same time, the SR-6iA/C SCARA robot will pick and place a sausage patty on top of the bun. This continues until patties are placed on all four buns. The robots will alternate placing the remaining elements on each sandwich including an egg, a slice of cheese and a top bun. Once all four sandwiches are completed, the robots remove items in reverse order and the cycle repeats.

The popular LR Mate 200iD series of tabletop industrial robots offer a "best in class" work envelope for both upright and invert mount installations. Ten models include clean room and wash proof versions, each with various wrist speeds and reaches to accommodate even the most limited workspace. The LR Mate series was introduced 30 years ago, and since that time has become one of FANUC's most popular robot models with over 70,000 units installed globally.

The new SR-6iA/C has a 6kg payload and 650 mm reach. It features a white epoxy coating and is rated IP54, meaning it is protected against contamination from limited amounts of dust and other particles as well as water spray. The SR-6iA/C is rated ISO Class 5 for cleanroom operation and uses NSF-H1 food-grade grease and anti-rust bolts for food handling applications.

A new FANUC LR-10iA/10 robot guided by several 3DV/400 vision sensors mounted over the workcell will pick various combinations of products from four separate totes to demonstrate order fulfillment. When the order tote is completed, it moves to the opposite side of the cell, where an LR Mate 200iD robot picks and places each item back onto the conveyor, sorting them by color to refill the pick totes.

FANUC's LR-10iA/10 robot is designed for machine tending and many picking applications found in the warehousing and logistics markets. Weighing just 46 kg, the LR-10iA/10 robot mounts to the floor, upside down, or on an angle. It's also very easy to mount the robot to an AGV or other mobile platform.

The SR-12iA SCARA Environmental Option robot will pack and unpack four-packs of two-liter pop bottles. The demonstration shows the SR-12iA's ability to handle heavy products in a wide operating area at high speeds.

FANUC recently expanded its line of four-axis SCARA robots to include the SR-3iA/U ceiling mount featuring a full 360-degree work envelope with no dead zones, and the SR-3iA/C and SR-6iA/C cleanroom variants. In addition to the three new models, FANUC's series of 4-axis SCARA robots includes the SR-3iA, SR-6iA, SR-12iA, and SR-20iA with 3kg, 6kg, 12kg and 20kg payload capacities, and a 400-1,100mm reach, respectively. The higher-payload SR-12iA and SR-20iA SCARAs each offer a large vertical stroke and an IP65 environmental option for harsh conditions.

The M-410iC/110 robot will alternate between picking cases from two conveyors and palletizing a mixed layer unit load to depalletizing the product from the pallet back to the two conveyors. While the system is running, visitors can create their own custom unit loads from FANUC's Tablet TP. The demonstration shows how easy it is to create and modify unit loads directly from the Tablet TP with FANUC's PalletTool Turbo software using the newly updated user interface. This will give operators the ability to quickly modify their system without needing a computer with PalletPRO simulation software.

The M-410iC/110 robot is designed for high-volume case, bag and bottle palletizing operations. It features a 110 kg payload, four-axis articulation, a compact footprint, and a slim arm with through-arm cable routing to simplify dress-out and minimize interference with tooling and other peripheral devices. The ability to perform 2200 standard palletizing cycles an hour with a 60kg payload makes the M-410iC/110 the fastest palletizing robot in its class. It also features a compact footprint and a 646 mm interference radius, ideal for tight workspaces.