MBDA, a European manufacturer in the aerospace and armaments sector, wanted to robotize certain processes in small series or even single unit production at its Bourges site, which specializes in the manufacture of tactical missile equipment utilizing mechanical manufacturing (metal and composite materials) and electromechanical assembly technologies. The company sought to allow an operator with no programming skills to quickly teach the robotic system the process to be carried out, and then to execute the cycle with complete confidence without human supervision.

Vincent Rafin, head of the factory of the future project at MBDA explained: "At MBDA we look for agility when it comes to robotization. We want to robotize tasks which cause musculo-skeletal disorders in our operators, and which occur in certain cases in the production of very small series or even single parts, so we need to keep the non-recurring costs of programming as low as possible. Programming a robot to define the trajectories of a laser is not the right approach for small series production, it is time-consuming and costly and has to be done by a roboticist."

Fuzzy Logic's Repplix application software module addresses all aspects of this requirement in a cost-effective manner. The first use case selected was the tedious, manual cleaning of the molds used to manufacture composites.

Programming a laser stripper on the fly, with a non-roboticist operator

Fuzzy Logic developed Repplix, an extension of its Fuzzy Studio software, in cooperation with MBDA.
A portable learning device, controlled by the operator using his knowledge of the application task, teaches the Repplix software the first laser alignment. A monitoring function performed via a real-time digital twin of the robotic installation created in Fuzzy Studio takes into account collision monitoring and trajectory feasibility in the robot´s environment. Alert parameters are set up. Trajectory capture combines several process parameters such as laser triggering and power. The operator, who is not a roboticist, is also able to modify the trajectory and process parameters via the graphical interface, even after the learning phase.

Source: Fuzzy Logic

Then, from this digital twin, the cycle is launched and the robot moves with the laser, guided by the accurate capture of the trajectory learned from the operator. The speed at which the robot operates is set directly in the software and can differ from the speed in the learning phase. The cycle is performed autonomously by the robot without the need for operator supervision. The same process, which takes only a few minutes, is done for each new series of molds.

Repplix is a different software solution, uniquely suited to robotizing industrial processes like these

The solution is executed with millimeter precision and is capable of extension to even more demanding applications in the future. The manual operation can be reproduced with ease because the learning device is the representation of the real tool and is not directly linked to the robot. The operator manages the execution and planning of the movement himself using the software and the parametrized alerts.

The time needed to program the mold cleaning operation is slashed from several hours to only a few minutes. Productivity is increased by automating the cleaning operation and the risks for the operator are reduced. This makes robotizing this operation profitable, both in terms of health, safety, and environment and economics.

Ryan Lober, CEO of Fuzzy Logic added: "With Repplix, the robot becomes a precision tool in the hands of the operator. Our solution allows him to automate his task in complete autonomy, without any intervention from a specialist. Another advantage is that Repplix is designed to start being used immediately, with no real training required. Our solution allows the robotization of processes where this has previously been impossible. What´s more, we have barely finished the initial application, and already, Repplix is being deployed by other users in Europe."