Be ambitious, dream big,’ proclaims a giant, brightly-coloured graphic that towers encouragingly above the bustling machine shop crammed with CNC machines at ALM Engineering near Newton Aycliffe in County Durham.

It was this spirit of enterprise and vision that turned necessity into a pioneering robotics innovation. ALM has uprooted machine tending robots, set them on wheels and turned them into freely accessible and adaptable mobile units that it can quickly and easily reposition wherever necessary.

The idea originated from the need for a device that would meet the growing needs of the family-run business. ALM’s development of collaborative robot (cobot) applications, based on technology from Universal Robots, was so successful that the company decided to perfect and market it to external customers, calling it the CoboTend. Now, a partnership with SICK UK enabled effortless safety without sacrificing productivity for the CoboTend, representing a vital step in the product’s continued development.

Two SICK nanoScan3 Pro safety laser scanners sit at opposite corners of the CoboTend’s trolley cabinet. Together, the laser scanners provide 360° coverage around the robot, slowing it to a safe speed when a person enters the outer of two fields and only stopping upon breaching the inner field. This concept means that the cobot can continue to operate safety and dynamically based on the proximity of the person rather than simply stopping if anyone gets too close, ensuring maximum uptime and productivity.

The SICK nanoScan3 Pro safety laser scanner is easy to integrate thanks to the SBot Speed URCap, a safety system that combines safety technology from SICK and Universal Robots.

SBot Speed URCap is simple and fast to set up using smart field definition and field teach-in. 

More information www.sick.co.uk