Plug-n-play robots for machine tools increase competitiveness

The easy integration of robots for loading and unloading, or secondary operations such as marking parts has the potential to deliver significant benefits to commercial machining operations. Mitsubishi Electric robots and models from KUKA will work seamlessly with DRC enabled controllers from Mitsubishi Electric. The CNC controller and robot are connected using high-speed Ethernet, which allows fast, convenient Plug and Play integration.

The other major benefits of on-CNC robot control are cost savings; a separate robot control unit no longer has to be purchased for example. Furthermore, robot specialists aren’t needed to alter less complex actions, as the operators can make changes to robot functions themselves by programming in G-code via the CNC.

Mitsubishi Electric is one of the top three CNC manufacturers, serving many of the world’s most successful machine tool companies, so these solutions are likely to appear soon on many shop floors. Manufacturers and machine tool operators will both benefit from robots being used for repetitive tasks on shorter production runs. More flexible operation and higher production volumes lead to improved competitiveness and the opportunity for increased profit.