Comau + ESSE SRL for FIRAD (case010)
Diesel like you’ve never seen it before.
Despite operating in a supposedly struggling sector – that of diesel engines – Firad has grown steadily over the decades, with a history that spans more than sixty years and is intertwined with that of Turin’s automotive industry.
The company constantly looks for the best technological solutions to enhance the quality of its products in order to increase its competitiveness and market share, without forgetting the involvement of people, which are essential to any successful project.
In this specific case, the manufacturing of components for the automotive sector meets robotics, where the success of Firad SpA is being supported and boosted by Comau and its robots.
Our approach
A ROBOTIC SOLUTION FOR LAPPING PROCESS
During one of the intermediate phases of Firad’s production, Comau acts as a protagonist with a lapping machine, the result of an in-house integration project. The implementation of this specific solution called for the use of a Racer 3 for process management. The lapping of the nozzle is a finishing process on the surface of the piece, which involves the removal of excess material.
“We decided once again to rely on a 6-axis articulated robot by Comau, integrated by ESSE SRL, and we chose a model with great flexibility. This is an essential feature, because the robot has to move in different positions during the process in order to replicate the movements of a human operator.”
Within the Firad integration, the end effector is represented by a suction cup which is able to adapt to the different sizes of the pieces that the Comau Racer-3 picks during machine tending, making the picking phase highly versatile. The robot is equipped with an effective force control system which guarantees safety and prevents any violent impact with the operator, but this system, which is entirely made in Firad, includes all the required safety controls, such as the delimitation of the working area inside the cell, in order to protect the workers.
The reasons behind this choice
We decided to rely on Comau’s technology after a detailed evaluation of factors such as value for the money, service reliability and proximity, which allow for the effective management of technical issues and can reduce machine downtime to almost zero.
On one occasion, a problem occurred in the afternoon and Comau technicians were ready with the solution by the next morning. Telephone assistance is also very effective, which makes the machine set-up faster and more efficient.
Other key factors that helped us choose Comau were their delivery times – which are faster than other suppliers – and the possibility to integrate their solutions within existing systems.
The control panel, for example, is very intuitive and user-friendly. It is also automatically integrated into the machine software, which uses the most common fieldbus protocols such as ethercat, profinet and profibus.
About ESSE SRL
The ESSE S.R.L. company, which operates in the Home Automation sector, is also present in the hydroelectric plants and electricity - works sectors. It is based in Luserna San Giovanni, Italy.