ew four axis M-2iA pick and place delta style robot is one of the few IP69K certified robot systems on the market able to withstand high pressure and temperature washdown procedures. A Genkotsu model, the Japanese word for fist, this parallel-link robot is as compact and dexterous as a human hand and has been developed in response to an increasing trend driven by food manufacturers looking to improve the hygiene of handling raw and unpackaged foods. With a 3kg payload, the M-2iA fills a gap between FANUC’s existing 1kg and 6kg arms and comes in two sizes, standard or long reach, with a cylindrical work envelope of 400mm deep and 1,130mm in diameter.“Robot uptake in the food industry has grown considerably within the last five years, with producers looking to enhance their competitive edge using high speed, accurate and agile systems – the key benefits of a pick and place robot. Yet most recent demands from producers relate to food safety and the use of robots to improve hygiene, by removing the human element, during the manufacturing process,” comments FANUC UK Managing Director Chris Sumner. “Although IP67K certified robots have been commonplace for many years, the very nature of a robot arm, with its many crevices and less durable construction materials, has in the past prevented it from working in harsh environments. Our current focus is on hardening our robots for sanitation, making them able to withstand the harshest of environments and high pressure water hose cleaning, which is often used during food manufacture,” adds Chris.
FANUC’s M-2iA is a high speed, ceiling mounted picking and assembly robot with a 3kg payload and ±0.1mm repeatability. Compact in design, it’s the best machine builder solution for picking from a conveyor at extremely high rates – up-to 220 cycles per minute and with a wrist rotation of 3,500 degrees per second. Designed with a durable epoxy coating, food-grade lubricant and over 20+ end effector options, it is ideal for handling unpackaged and raw foods including placement of products into trays and assembly operations. The FANUC M-2iA is controlled by the new energy saving R-30iB controller, FANUC’s latest generation of intelligent controller. Packed with smart features, the R-30iB is compact and when used in multi robot systems can be stacked to save valuable space. Features include iRVision, real time interactive iPendant Touch, Learning Vibration Control (LVC) for path optimisation and auto motor braking for power saving. All that the robot requires to benefit from iRVision is a camera and a cable to connect it to the controller – a housing is provided in the robot body to position a camera above the wrist.
Operator training on the new M-2iA, to develop skills to achieve optimum equipment performance in a safe operating environment, takes place at FANUC’s new 3,000m² Coventry based interactive facility. “During the lifespan of a FANUC robot, typically 25 years, a system will be updated on a number of occasions with new software and different end effectors, enabling it to easily change its occupation in line with brand trends. To keep the robot in good working order, FANUC guarantees parts for 25 years, including obsolescence avoidance solutions, and services systems quickly with a team of 45 UK based engineers to achieve 99.9% system uptime,” concludes Chris.
