On the occasion of this year’s technology conference run by Hufschmied Zerspanungssysteme GmbH in Bobingen near Augsburg, the Japanese robot manufacturer Omron and VisCheck GmbH from Neubiberg near Munich presented a cobot that can read a production screen by itself and receive commands in that way. Currently, it is able to distinguish and interpret up to ten parameters. Via a QR code, it can also learn the target values for a component. The cobot is even able to operate the keyboard linked to the monitor and re-adjust the production machine. It can also insert parts and remove them once they have been processed. A camera fitted in the machine monitors product quality, and it can deliver a measurement accuracy of 1/100 mm. If there are deviations from the set values, the cobot can take action via artificial intelligence and sensors.

The project, which goes by the name opdra, is still under development. If it can be implemented as planned, the new cobot could be able to run night shifts alone and ease the burden on technical staff enormously during the day. The waste in production should be reduced significantly as a result, while productivity will increase. In the joint project, Hufschmied is responsible for the process engineering, the cobots come from Omron, and VisCheck supplies the image processing systems.