TRW Automotive manager Aidan Barber considers the investment in robotics to be well worth the cost.  “We’re beginning to see the real benefits of having a flexible process with much faster production rates, which in turn brings us considerable cost savings,” he says.

Airbags are designed to restrain movement by providing a cushion for occupants in the event of a collision. The sensors manufactured by TRW detect movement and force. The production process involves electronic circuit boards being loaded into a plastic housing. Parts are laser welded and then the weld is checked for quality by performing a leak detection for the seal integrity before being loaded into a functional test station. Here the normal movements of a vehicle are simulated together with a 30G force. This is thirty times the force of gravity and in the event of an accident, such a force would set off the air bag.

Because modern cars have sensors to check for impact from all sorts of angles, the robots have to load the parts in different manners. This is possible only with the flexibility of 4 and 6-axis robots. The machine also takes up less floor space than previously occupied by the process as the small footprint of the robots help produce a compact machine.

Also integrated into the machine are Cognex bar code readers to identify parts passing through the machine and Cognex Insight cameras IS-5403 are used elsewhere in the production process to inspect components. Altec became a system integrator for AA Robotics DENSO robots earlier this year and this is the second robotic machine which has been supplied to TRW.

Nick Batey, Technical Director of Altec Engineering says: “The small footprint of the robot and the 3D CAD models made the design of the machine easier than it would have been using other traditional methods. Having this sort of capability shortens lead times and the amount of setup and commissioning time necessary to install the machine.”

The AA Robotics DENSO robots supplied to TRW are both 6-axis articulate and 4-axis SCARA and both use the same control system. This makes understanding and programming the system much easier, and the use of a SCARA robot provides a more cost effective solution.

AA Robotics distributes DENSO robots in the UK and Ireland. Their range is from 3Kg up to 20Kg payload in 4-axis or 6-axis arm configurations with a reach from 400mm to 1300mm. DENSO robots have a fast 0.3 seconds pick and place operation which is repeatable to 0.015mm.