6 Robots in soldering cell, takes up just a few square meters of floor space.
To reduce production costs and maintain the high level of quality required in the production of solar panels, Scheuten Solar at Gelsenkirchen, have made the decision to use robotic automation. Machinefabriek van de Weert, a Dutch machine builder, was chosen to engineer and to build this production cell.
The justification for automation
The main reason for the introduction of robotic automation for Scheuten Solar was the high labour costs of 4 people working 24h per day, on the demanding and repetitive task of soldering connections between the solar panels. Robotic automation would reduce labour costs, and would also ensure sure that the delivered quality would remain at a high and constant level.
Initial concept
The initial concept by Machinefabriek van de Weert included servo driven rigid axes. This was quickly changed in favour of robotic automation when it became clear that panels may not always be accurately delivered to the cell. The soldering cell would also be required to process a number of different panel types. Robotic automation was the solution, and provided the necessary flexibility for the soldering cell.
The soldering cell ....
The final layout of the cell has 6 robots mounted on a single frame, 5 robots are mounted inverted on the frame and 1 robot on its base. When a panel arrives into the cell, the panel position is accurately detected using two cameras. Robot 1 is equipped with a double gripper and starts the process by picking a connector from a storage position and using the integrated robot iRVision places it onto the panel. Then using the second gripper function robot 1 pulls a predetermined length of wire from the wire feeder. Robot 2 then grips the wire and the wire is automatically cut to length. Robot 2 then places the wire at the correct position on the panel and robot 3 solders the wire to the panel. Robots 4 and 5 perform a similar task on the underside of the panel, but no connector is required on the underside of the panel. Robot 5 also carries the wire to a printer where a serial number is printed directly onto the wire before soldering.
The soldering cell operates on an 80 second cycle time, and can produce up to 360 panels in an 8 hour shift. The flexibility of the robotic automation allows the cell to currently processes 12 different panel types, and can be easily adapted to process many other panel types.
Benefits to Scheuten Solar
The main benefit to Scheuten Solar is the reduction in labour costs for producing soldered panels. The added benefits are the flexibility and consistency that the robotic automation provides when using FANUC Robotics fully integrated iRVision. The introduction of new panel sizes, changes in wire lengths or wire positions is now an easy task to incorporate into the soldering cell.
Why FANUC Robotics
The design of robots needed to be very compact because they have to work in a very small work environment. Moreover the weight of the robots itself is also very important; 5 of the 6 robots are hanging upside down on one and the same frame. Also payload, pricing and delivery time were all crucial criteria in this project.”An extra advantage”, so said Machinefabriek van de Weert, “was the integrated vision system of FANUC Robotics. Off course it is possible to use vision systems of other suppliers but they were too complicated to use.”