Best in Show 2024 Winners
Over 180 exhibitors showcased the latest in manufacturing products and services at the 2nd annual ASSEMBLY Show SOUTH, featuring everything from fastening tools to automated assembly systems. To highlight the cutting-edge technologies, we held a "Best in Show" contest, with you—the attendees—serving as the judges. Here are the 2024 winners.
3D Bin Picking for Automated Stud Welding
A gas cap manufacturer needed an automated machine that could run a progressive stud welding process “lights out” for an entire shift or more. The goal was to have an operator fill part feeders, start the machine, and then walk away for eight hours or more of run-time before returning to replenish parts.
MS Automation designed and built a custom system for the job. 3D vision guidance enables a six-axis robot to accurately pick a stamped cap from dunnage that holds thousands of loose pieces. The robot places the cap into a centering fixture designed to precisely locate any cap size. (The caps are supplied in four diameters.) A SCARA robot introduces unfinished caps to the welding process and removes finished product.
The process is built around a rotary indexing table that moves caps through a progressive stud welding operation. Six feeder bowls supply studs to four welding guns, allowing for multiple product recipes to be completed automatically. A final inspection identifies bad parts, which are segregated at pack-out.
Changeover between cap sizes is fast and easy, thanks to quick-release dial nests and swapping of cap dunnage using a forklift.
Booth 937
MS Automation
Rivet Tool for Robots
RoboRiv is an electric rivet-nut setting tool for robotic automation. The tool attaches to any robot. The tool is equipped with force and distance sensors to ensure consistent clamp load and error-free installation of rivet-nuts and rivet-studs. A force-control feature helps prevent spin-out of fasteners. Real-time data collection provides visibility into issues like over- or under-tightening.
Engineers can fine-tune parameters such as force, current, displacement, speed, and time for each application. Early alarms for deviations from parameters allow for effective equipment management and calibration. RoboRiv is also equipped with a built-in linear compensation unit to ensure the tool is in the correct position for collecting or setting a rivet nut every time. An onboard full color OLED display provides a visual indicator of correct installation and allows for easy troubleshooting.
Electric tools with QuickDraw technology are faster than pneudraulic and hydraulic tools, because they can detect when a rivet has been fully installed and thus can quickly reset without having to complete an entire stroke cycle.
Booth 712
RivetKing
Device Measures Clamp Load
TensionCam measures clamp load in a bolted joint using a special sensor module. The module is equipped with a fingerprint sensor. But, instead of analyzing fingerprint patterns, the module, when docked to a bolt head, takes images of a precision machined pattern in a cavity of the bolt head. It then sends the information to the TensionCam app, which can make conclusions about bolt tension and clamp load based on changes in the pattern.
Once the sensor module is docked on the bolt, the measurement takes place automatically. All measurements are saved on a server and available in trend diagrams for each joint. Measurements are accurate to within 5 percent of full scale.
Booth 1123
Momento International
