Projects
Machining centre for sandwich panels
Automated 2-side processing with just one robot
- Industry
- Plastics & Composites
- Solution
- Milling / Processing
An automated production cell was developed for processing sandwich panels, machining the top and bottom sides in a continuous process. Vacuum clamping technology, gantry mechanics and CAD data transfer enable precise milling and drilling of different panel formats.
Project highlights
- Industrial robot with water-cooled 15 kW spindle
- Up to 24,000 rpm
- Gantry mechanics for the robot
- Tool magazine with 16 slots
- Vacuum clamping technology
- Automated transfer of DXF data
- Safety PLC for the entire system
Application & machining processes
- Panel transfer via roller conveyor
- Automatic positioning and vacuum fixation
- Machining of the upper side
- Automatic side change
- Machining of the underside in the same system
- Transfer via discharge conveyor technology
Operating & control concept
- Machining data from 2D CAD files
- Automatic conversion into robot movements
- Order-related programme selection
- Central system control
Safety concept
- Safety PLC
- Secured entry and exit areas
- Protected processing area
Result
- Double-sided machining in one system
- Reduced manual reclamping operations
- High repeatability
- Digital process chain from CAD data to machining
Insights | Process
Conclusion
The machining cell enables precise 2-sided machining of sandwich panels in an automated, CAD-supported process.