TaskMate Robotic System

Robotic Flexible Feeding System Eliminates Expensive Bulky Bowl Feeders

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February 2011, Blacksburg, VA — ESS Technologies, Inc. TaskMate™ Flexible Feeding Systems offer a cost-effective, compact alternative to bulky, expensive bowl feeding systems. While traditional feeding systems require custom engineering and significant floor space, TaskMate™ Flexible Feeding Systems have a very small footprint and can be easily configured to handle a wide variety of products. The flexible feeding system incorporates a high speed FANUC multi-axis robot with ESS-designed end-of-arm tool (EOAT) and an impulse-based flexible feeder, such as the ones offered by Flexomation, integrated with the FANUC iRVision system. The feeder flips or recirculates parts into robot’s pick zone, which uses the iRVision system to locate and pick the part, regardless of its orientation on the feeder. The Flexible Feeding System offers significant cost benefits where multiple axis orientation is required. ESS can design the EOAT to handle most any product configuration.

Unlike traditional bowl feeders, which, in order to handle multiple product sizes, typically require additional size parts and take time to change over, the TaskMate Flexible Feeding System can be programmed to handle many product configurations. The system easily retrofits for new products, requiring only additional programming and new EOAT with quick release connections for tool-free changeover, eliminating the size parts, tools, and the lost–time expense associated with bowl feeder changeovers. The TaskMate Flexible Feeding System can be integrated with other packaging machinery for a variety of applications, including pick-and-place assembly processes, bottle and vial feeding, cap and dropper feeding and sorting or kit-packing applications. A number of models of FANUC robot may be specified, depending on the reach and payload requirements of the application and a clean class robot option is available.

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