Video Transcript

Hi, I'm Nathan Jackson. I'm the Norton application engineer focusing on automation. And today I'm going to give you a little tour of the APS lab. Follow me.

So, at the center of the APS lab here is a 210 kg payload capacity 6-axis industrial robot. Uh, one thing that makes this cell unique is we have the capability to do abrasive-to-part operations or part-to-abrasive. So, for the abrasive-to-part side of operations, we have a bunch of different spindles and air tools that we can use to put an abrasive on the end of the robot arm. We have everything from a 15 horsepower spindle that would be used for really aggressive grinding down to the finer finishing side of things where we have a light-duty 50,000 RPM spindle. So, this is typically where we'd be replacing an operation that right now an operator is holding something like a right angle grinder, a die grinder.

Generally, as far as our products go, we're going to be looking at things like sanding discs, brushes, or flap discs. This allows us to use just about every Norton product that we make on the robot. On the other side of the cell, we have a table behind me. This is where we would use our abrasive-to-part methodology. Um, so right here is a 1,000 lb. capacity table that we can mount larger parts onto. This table is unique because it can swivel and rotate, which gives us two extra degrees of freedom when we're trying to get into complex areas on a part. Another feature we have here in the lab is compliance devices that go on the end of the robot arm. So, this allows us to control the force throughout the entire grind. That's really how we mimic that human touch aspect that comes really into play when you're grinding.

When we're picking up the part, that's what we would call a part-to-abrasive operation. And we have several different grippers or spindles that we could use to mount the part and then bring it over to one of our three grinding heads that are behind me here.

This is our 40 horsepower grinding head. This is for your really heavy-duty grinding operations. Think things like cut-off operations, super abrasive wheels, foundry snagging wheels, that sort of thing.

Right above that is what we'd kind of call our medium duty head. This is a 15 horsepower head. This is typically where we would do coarse grit belt grinding or even some nonwoven wheel operations.

This is our finishing head here. This one's only 5 horsepower, but it's typically used for your light-duty belt polishing applications or buffing. This is where you would bring a part to get that final finish that most customers expect. One other thing that makes this unique is this head has compliance built in, which means we are able to control the force throughout the entire grinding process.

One other thing you'll notice is that around me are all these dust collection and coolant collection systems. Um, the reason for that is that we are able to run aluminum and titanium combustible materials in here as well and use coolant while we're grinding.

We'd love to hear more about how the Norton APS team can help automate your grinding processes. Reach out to your Norton sales rep to learn more.