In recent years, there has been a growing demand for more flexible automation solutions in manufacturing due to the increasing complexity of products and the need to quickly adapt to changes in demand. As an answer, we developed MIRAI, our AI-based vision system that enables robots to react to dynamically changing environments and to handle a wider range of tasks.
To give more automation experts access to MIRAI, we partnered with FANUC, a leading supplier of robotics and factory automation in Japan, and its US subsidiary FANUC America. MIRAI is now compatible with numerous robots produced by FANUC, including the CRX series.
MIRAI is a powerful tool that can be used to make FANUC robots more flexible and adaptable. This can lead to a number of benefits for manufacturers, including increased productivity, improved quality, and reduced costs. Here are the main benefits of using MIRAI with FANUC robots:
One example of how MIRAI can be used to make FANUC robots more flexible is in cable insertion applications. Cable insertion applications, such as flat ribbon cables for the electronics industry or industrial automotive connectors, typically require a high degree of flexibility to accommodate shape instability, making it a difficult task for any robot. MIRAI makes this type of application possible, says our Chief Technology Officer, Dominik Bösl.
"Grabbing a flexible part, guiding it and placing it accurately into a socket may be a trivial task for humans, but it has been basically impossible to complete for industrial robots,” Bösl said. “That’s because while robots can work tirelessly and precisely with high repeatability, they are limited in their ability to perform complex motorized processes. The required hand-eye coordination is just not present in a robot. If the robot falters due to variances or deviations, employees must intervene, and are sometimes burdened with unergonomic tasks. This inhibits the performance of manufacturing companies who are already struggling with the prevailing shortage of skilled workers.”
Another example of how MIRAI can be used to make FANUC robots more flexible is in assembly applications. Assembly tasks can also be difficult for robots because they often require the robot to handle objects in different orientations. However, MIRAI can be used to train robots to perform assembly tasks by observing human demonstrations. Micropsi Industries plans additional automation projects that will expand the range of applications for FANUC’s industrial robots. The medium- and long-term goal: revolutionize industrial work from the ground up.
“MIRAI is a game changer,” said Jerry Perez, executive director of global accounts atFANUC America. “For the last 20 years I’ve heard companies ask for this kind of dynamic path augmentation technology repeatedly, so seeing it work is really amazing. What’s even more amazing is how affordable it is to add this kind of automation-enabling technology to any of our robots or collaborative cobots. I’ve already showed this technology to large and small manufacturers that are asking us to implement flexible robot automation faster, and unanimously, they are very interested in implementing MIRAI.”
Do you want to discuss your application with an automation expert? Get in touch with us.
