OnRobot has launched the MG10, a versatile, high-performance, easy to use magnetic gripper for material handling, assembly and machine tending applications in manufacturing, automotive and aerospace environments. Fully compatible with all major robot brands through OnRobot’s One System Solution, the MG10 offers unique adjustable force and grip detection features that provide users with unprecedented levels of control.
Standard magnetic grippers only provide simple ON/OFF functionality. To adjust the force applied, users have to add rubber ‘feet’ to create space between the magnet and the part. This is a tedious and imprecise process that doesn’t always guarantee perfect results, especially on applications that involve handling thin metal sheets and small metal parts where magnetic grippers often accidentally end up picking more than one sheet or part as the force cannot be adjusted.
“Standard magnetic grippers are a real hassle because almost every time your application or workpiece changes, you have to make manual adjustments to compensate for the gripper’s lack of functionality,” says Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO of OnRobot. “OnRobot’s innovative MG10 gripper eliminates all that thanks to its adjustable force features that enable you to deploy precise material handling applications quickly and easily.”
New Features Eliminate Dropped Parts
Unlike standard magnetic grippers, the innovative MG10 comes with built-in grip and sensors for part detection. For applications that involve handling sheet metal –such as machine tending tasks that require robots to lift sheet metal from a stack, place it into a press brake/press bending machine, and remove it when the machine has completed its work– this functionality ensures smooth, consistent and safe operation. And if the robot loses power or has to make an e-stop while performing a task, these features ensure that there is no risk of dropping the part being handled.
The new MG10 gripper is ready to take over machine tending, assembly and material handling tasks that were once performed by costly and complex pneumatic grippers. “While pneumatic systems require an external air supply, cabling and ongoing maintenance, the MG10 is ready to go out of the box, resulting in massively reduced deployment costs compared to its pneumatic counterparts,” says Iversen.
Handles Uneven, Abrasive or Perforated Surfaces
The MG10 also provides precise and durable handling of objects with abrasive, uneven or perforated surfaces, making it a perfect fit for a wide variety of applications in the manufacturing, automotive and aerospace sectors. On top of that, the MG10’s multi-magnet setup ensures that this gripper can handle a wide range of sizes, weights and parts with odd-shaped geometries.
There are many applications, such as multi-stage bending press tasks and handling parts with many holes, where vacuum and finger-type grippers simply don’t have the intelligence and power to succeed. The MG10 can handle such tasks with ease, whether the workpiece is a metal blank, a punched steel part, or a perforated steel sheet.
“As the manufacturing sector moves towards low volume/high mix production, the ability to move quickly from one application setup to another quickly is more than a ‘nice to have.’ It’s essential,” says CEO Iversen. “The MG10 is the only magnetic gripper on the market that’s sufficiently versatile, intelligent and so easy to use that it can be quickly redeployed on tasks from machine tending and palletizing to de-stacking of metal sheets –and all in one no fuss, no nonsense, plug and play package.”
World’s Most Powerful Electric Vacuum Gripper
Large, unwieldy bags of dog food, non-airtight clothing or consumer goods packages, and bulky, porous cardboard boxes. These are just some examples of demanding packaging and palletizing applications that OnRobot’s new VGP20 gripper can address. VGP20 is the world’s most-powerful electric vacuum gripper. Compatible with all leading robot brands, the gripper can handle payloads of 2-kilograms (44.09-pounds), making it a great fit for a wide range of applications in industries from cosmetics and electronics to pharmaceuticals and food and beverage.
“Our customers asked for a cost-effective, easy-to-deploy vacuum gripper that can pick up bulky, heavy-duty payloads while being intelligent enough to handle a wide range of items, including those with irregular shapes and porous surfaces,” says Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO at OnRobot. “The VGP20 combines power, intelligence and ease-of-use that competes with expensive, complex pneumatic grippers.”
End-of-line operations such as palletizing are labor-intensive and costly. Researchers estimate that, on average, labor costs account for 65% of warehouse facility operating budgets, dwarfing the costs associated with utilities, taxes, distribution and rent combined.
On this basis alone, automation is a compelling proposition for companies of all sizes. According to researchers, adoption of automated palletizing solutions in the food and beverage sector is estimated to have increased at a CAGR of more than 13 percent since 2017 and is set to reach USD390 million by 2022. 90% Cost Savings Compared to Pneumatic Grippers OnRobot’s new VGP20 electric vacuum gripper can take on applications that have traditionally been handled by powerful pneumatic grippers–at a fraction of the cost and complexity. While pneumatic grippers require compressed air to operate, the VGP20 is all-electric and ready to go out of the box, enabling companies to save up to 90-percent on operating and maintenance costs compared to traditional pneumatic gripper deployments.
The VGP20 provides unlimited cup and airflow customization and multichannel functionality, allowing it to be deployed on multiple items of different shapes and sizes.
Additionally, the VGP20 gripper’s built-in intelligence, combined with its easy-to-use software, provides precise air flow control functionality that is beyond the capabilities of traditional pneumatic grippers. This functionality allows users to vary the type of grip used in different applications, such as the soft grip used to handle delicate items to the hard grip required for handling bulky, heavy cardboard boxes with porous surfaces.
Enables Use of Less Expensive Packaging Materials
The costs of cardboard for packaging has risen by nearly 40 percent from 2010 – 2020. Additionally, with continued strong growth of e-commerce demands, estimates of further increases lead shippers to look for lower-cost options for packaging materials. Thinner, more porous cardboard and lightweight shipping bags present challenges for traditional automated packaging and palletizing, however. The powerful, customizable OnRobot VGP20 easily handles these thinner and less expensive packaging materials, allowing shippers to save considerably on both automation and shipping costs.
OnRobot’s VGP20 gripper also provides an option to enable continuous monitoring of the gripper’s air flow. If this option is selected, and the vacuum is interrupted for any reason, the robot will come to an immediate halt and an alert pop-up window will be displayed in the gripper software.
“Efficient packaging and palletizing performance is crucial to success for manufacturers, e-commerce and logistics companies. However, labor shortages present an ongoing challenge and performing these jobs by hand is both monotonous and unergonomic,” says Iversen. “The powerful and versatile VGP20 gripper enables companies to automate these tasks, providing relief to workers while improving overall productivity and quality.”
About OnRobot
OnRobot manufactures a wide range of components for collaborative applications, including electric grippers, magnetic grippers, the world’s most powerful electric vacuum gripper, the award-winning Gecko gripping technology, force/torque sensors, 2.5D vision technology, screwdriving kits, sanding kits and tool changers. OnRobot makes it quick and easy to automate tasks such as packaging, quality control, materials handling, machine tending, palletizing, assembly, and surface finishing. Headquartered in Odense, Denmark, OnRobot also has offices in Los Angeles, Dallas, Soest (Germany), Barcelona, Warsaw, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and Budapest.
For more information, visit www.onrobot.com.
