MacBUILT 3 axis X,Y & Z Cartesian Gantry system

Commercial Outdoor Equipment Product Manufacturing

A client recently came to Macron Dynamics seeking a highly flexible work cell to press stamp product blanks into shape and stack the various products within a WIP area. The work cell was initiated by a signal which triggered an ordered sequence that moved the product blanks into a forming station. A six-axis robot handled the product moving it from flat sheet to stamped blank upstream of the Macron Cartesian Gantry System. A different six-axis articulated arm robot then moved the blank through a forming station downstream. The large gantry system moving on X, Y, and Z axes and equipped with a complex heavy-duty end effector facilitates the product movement between the work cells manned by the articulated arm robots using coordinated cartesian motions.

What started as an inquiry about Macron’s specialty capabilities quickly transformed into a sophisticated solution for a flexible work cell. Macron Engineers worked through the application requirements with the client’s System Integration Engineers to develop a comprehensive solution that was capable of meeting the unique challenges that this scenario presented – including a very long span between work cells. Based on this plan, it was determined that a MacBUILT MCS Heavy Duty Cartesian Gantry System would be ideally suited to perform the job.

MacBUILT systems are hybrid combinations of our MacSTANDARD actuators and gantry systems. In this application, an MGS-UC3 Heavy Duty X/Z gantry was set on an MDS-14H Heavy Duty Dual extended cart system to deliver 3 axes of motion and a large footprint with extra-long reach capabilities vertically. Since the Y-axis travel exceeded the standard MGS-UC3 limits, a pair of special composite “I” beams were attached to the Y-axis beams to provide extra strength and reduced deflection over the long travel distances without adding significant weight to the moving mass load. As demonstrated in the video, the system is running efficiently and essentially “lights out” with no operators.

When asked why this client sought out Macron Dynamics to solve their unique challenges the answer was simple. According to Craig Marshall, Chief Operating Officer, “We are the best linear robotic solution for this particular problem. When it comes to customizing sophisticated cartesian gantry systems – especially those that need to cover a large work envelope – Macron Engineers are the experts.”