GENERAL TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY

At Applied Robotics our Technology Strategy is to provide our Clients with the most ROBUST as well as cost effective solution to their automation task.

Our derivation of the Technology Concept is thus in 3 Steps:

Step 1. Derive the simplest Functional Concept for the required task.

Step 2. Within this functional spectrum, implement as much of the Function as is feasible as software functions.

Step 3. For the remaining Functions, which are mechanical, implement as much as is feasible using proven off-the-shelf modules – such as a robot.

Currently, some 60% of installed Systems employs off-the-shelf robots as component part of the System. All Systems are controlled by a PLC.

Another recent development is the demand for automation Systems more and more to work in less structured environments. In the last 20 years most of the "easy" manufacturing tasks have largely been automated, so leaving these more difficult ones where a manual input is still required to produce a cost effective solution.

We are now tackling these more difficult tasks wherein "newer" technologies are asked to take over the erstwhile manual capability to readily cope with less structured inputs and to provide Quality Control of the output. As a result, some 70% of our installed Systems in the last 5 years have featured intelligent sensing functions and automated QC capability. Vision Systems have featured prominently in these Systems.

Some interesting Robot based System are described in the following sections.