Trans­form­ing Drilling Oper­a­tions: The Emer­gence of Robot­ic Drilling

The Shift from Man­u­al to Robot­ic Drilling

In the realm of indus­tri­al oper­a­tions, the tran­si­tion from man­u­al to robot­ic drilling marks a sig­nif­i­cant leap for­ward. This change is not just a mat­ter of effi­cien­cy; it’s about cre­at­ing a safer, more cost-effec­tive, and pre­cise drilling process.

Advan­tages of Robot­ic Drilling

Man­u­al drilling can be dan­ger­ous and exhaust­ing work. Robot­ic drilling pro­vides a cost-effec­tive and safe alter­na­tive to using human work­ers for drilling. As drilling becomes auto­mat­ed, cost and waste are cut while cycle times are increased.

Cus­tomiz­able End-of-Arm Tooling

End-of-arm tool­ing is cus­tomiz­able to meet the consumer’s needs, whether in the aero­space indus­try, auto­mo­tive indus­try, or any oth­er. Robot­ic drilling is depen­dent on posi­tion­al repeata­bil­i­ty. The robot is respon­si­ble for deliv­er­ing the right tool in the right ori­en­ta­tion and must remain rigid even when force is applied.

Pre­ci­sion and Rigid­i­ty in Robot­ic Drilling

A key aspect of robot­ic drilling is its depen­dence on posi­tion­al repeata­bil­i­ty. Robots must deliv­er tools with pre­cise ori­en­ta­tion and main­tain rigid­i­ty even under sig­nif­i­cant force. This pre­ci­sion is vital in appli­ca­tions where even the slight­est error can lead to sig­nif­i­cant consequences.

Robot­ic Drilling Across Industries

Aero­space Indus­try: A Prime Example

In the aero­space sec­tor, robot­ic drilling is pre­dom­i­nant­ly used for drilling holes in air­frame com­po­nents. With the help of vision sys­tems, robots can accu­rate­ly pin­point drilling loca­tions on an air­frame, a process essen­tial for the thou­sands of holes required on a fuselage.

Fanuc’s Role in Pre­ci­sion Drilling

Fanuc robots are ide­al for drilling and oth­er appli­ca­tions that require a high amount of accu­ra­cy. The Fanuc M‑900iB/700 super heavy pay­load robot is ide­al for aero­space drilling and debur­ring. It is equipped with sec­ondary encoders and deflec­tion com­pen­sa­tion soft­ware to main­tain high pre­ci­sion and rigid­i­ty. After drilling an air­frame fuse­lage, it can then change to a debur­ring tool to debur the panel’s windows.

The Fanuc M‑900iB/260L 6‑axis robot is anoth­er drilling robot with a 260kg pay­load capac­i­ty and a 3100mm reach. Its arm has a drilling head that rotates at 1800 RPM and is equipped with a 3.6kW motor. 

KUKA and Motoman: Ver­sa­til­i­ty in Robot­ic Drilling

KUKA robots are also used in the aero­space indus­try for the assem­bly of com­plex air­craft struc­tures but are also used in oth­er indus­tries as well. The KUKA KR150 robot pro­vides accu­rate robot­ic drilling in a vari­ety of sand cores used to make cast­ings for cus­tomers in the auto­mo­tive and con­struc­tion machine industries.

Motoman​’s UP50 indus­tri­al robot has an arm with a 50kg pay­load capac­i­ty. The UP50 drilling sys­tem moves parts from table to table and drills holes in tubes. Pneu­mat­ic tool­ing inserts end caps into the tubes to com­plete the cycle. A UP20 mod­el with vision can locate and ori­ent a part before load­ing it into a drilling machine.

The Future of Robot­ic Drilling

Robot­ic drilling is also future-ori­ent­ed. Robot­ic Drilling Sys­tems AS is attempt­ing to devel­op a ful­ly auto­mat­ed drilling rig. The rig would ​“think” for itself, doing its posi­tion­ing, erect­ing steel rein­force­ments, and drilling a well with­out human interference.

Robots​.com: Your Part­ner in Robot­ic Drilling Solutions

Using drilling robots speeds up the process while ensur­ing qual­i­ty and pre­ci­sion. Robots​.com car­ries a vari­ety of drilling robots from dif­fer­ent man­u­fac­tur­ers. If you are unsure of which brand you would like, we can help you choose the per­fect one to ful­fill your needs. Con­tact us today by call­ing 877−762−6881 or reach rep­re­sen­ta­tives online.