1. Fiberglass robot background
At present, the development of traditional manufacturing industries has entered a bottleneck. The past advantage has now become a stumbling block to the development of enterprises. Even worse, it pushed enterprises to the brink of bankruptcy. How to find a way to change this situation is urgently needed by every enterprise. Driven by industry 4.0, with the integration of artificial intelligence, the Internet of things, digitalization and other new technologies, robots are born. Fiberglass robots have also developed rapidly.
Glass fiber composites are made up of fiberglass and resin. Fiberglass and resin configuration are what determines the specific advantages of a fiberglass product. You can also use carbon fiber to make it if needed. Because fiberglass and carbon fiber are new composite materials. Their specific gravity is less than 1/4 of steel, but the tensile strength is better than steel. As we all know, the tensile strength of carbon fiber can reach more than 3500Mpa, while the tensile strength of fiberglass is 23000 ~ 43000Mpa. Therefore, fiber-reinforced plastics are popular in many fields. For example, fiberglass chair, fiberglass pool, FRP car body and so on. Especially for robots in the livelihood of people and special fields, we also call fiberbots.
Due to strong customization and personalization, the demand for fiberglass shell has grown exponentially in recent years. It makes up for the disadvantages high of cost of traditional robot shell injection mold and limited design. In this case, the use of FRP composite material is helpful. Production processes such as hand-lay FRP, fiberglass filament winding and RTM have effectively solved the shortcomings of this supply chain. This is conducive to helping the development of intelligent robots.
2. Fiberglass application in robotic systems
The following are examples of actual robot products. Our company takes part in the manufacture and supply of some fiberglass robot parts.
2.1 Fire robots
Introduction
On November 20th, officers and men of the fire squadron were practicing the operation of fire robots. This robot is independently developed and produced by our customers. Our company produces the robot shell for our customers. We use other composite materials such as chopped strand mat and fiberglass skin. Because it can increase the strength and corrosion resistance of the robot shell. The robot integrates many functions. For example, wireless video surveillance, fire extinguishing, lighting, high-temperature resistance, and others. It can replace firefighters in high temperature, explosive, and toxic high-risk environments at the scene of a fire.
At the same time, it can also use the high-definition camera to send the scene image. So it can help the firefighters grasp the fire situation in all aspects. Besides, you can introduce a map of the fire disaster area to the robot. So the robot will also go to the disaster location and carry out fire fighting tasks by itself.
Material selection
Since the FRP robot shell is made of fiberglass and resin, it has good high temperature resistance. It will not be damaged in high temperature working environment. During the production process, we chose better epoxy resin than polyester resin to make products.
Why did we choose epoxy resin to make the fiberglass shell? Because the thermosetting property of epoxy resin is higher than that of polyester resin. The hardness and strength of the robot shell are higher. As report goes, in the next three months, they plan to promote Qiteng firefighting robots. Apply them in various fire brigade in our city, and they will soon be in service. From the design drawings to the finalization of the process, our company actively took part in it. Since them, it goes through half a year of trial production and mass production verification with customers. Finally, they put it on the market and won praise from customers.
Professional research
We have made a full investigation and experiment on this robot. The process is from the appearance of the shell to the selection of materials. We put a lot of time and effort into this product, This is an FRP product that we can be proud of. We added the chopped strand mat in the process of making fiberglass robots to increase the strength of the robot shell. Because this is an outdoor product. It has strict requirements on the weather resistance of the product. For example, the UV resistance needs to reach 15 years, and the tensile strength of the product needs to reach 590 Mpa. Thus, we need to choose materials with good tensile strength and UV resistance. As a reinforcing part in composite materials, the fiberglass mat has good insulation and thermal insulation properties. Fiberglass mats can increase the weather resistance of the robot enclosure.
Fiberglass robot shell manufacturing process
Please let me introduce the process and innovation of our production of this robot.
1）Material selection
The customer provided us with a drawing. nd our company researched the drawing and then analyzed the possibility of producing the fiberglass shell. Finally, it was determined that our company could produce the FRP products required by the customer. Let the customer trust us and choose us.
2）Optimizing processes
Our engineers studied the drawings and robot building structures. We actively communicate with customers to coordinate the parts of the process that can be improved and optimized.
3）Hand layup process
After confirming the drawing and the process plan, our company finally chose to use the hand-lay process to produce the product. Why do we choose the most traditional process to produce the shell of this product? This is a result of considering many factors. Including the cost budget, product assembly of large structures, and appearance requirements. The traditional hand layup process maintenance cost is low and repairable. So the use of the hand paste process is more suitable for the production of FRP shell.
4）CNC
We use CNC to produce prototypes, which is a very important step. Because it can guarantee that the final size of the product will not show too much tolerance. Also, it ensures the size and quality of robotic systems.
5) Mold production.
The customer’s surface requirements are almost mirror light requirements. So our company used Japanese Showa imported gel coat when making the mold. As we all know, the price of imported gelcoat is more than six times that of domestic gel coat. To ensure the surface effect of the product, our company does not hesitate to lose part of our profit to achieve customer satisfaction. We also use a reliable release agent in the process. We sincerely hope to help customers get satisfied with products.
6）Choosing the fiber and resin
During the product manufacturing process, our company also conducted an in-depth analysis. It’s main to make the selection of the resin and glass fiber materials. And finally we chose Ashland’s flame retardant grade V0, boulder powder glass fiber felt and the surface felt. We have added fiberglass skin to the material. It can improve the corrosion resistance of the product and increase its service life. Also, we assist customer’s products to provide fire support at the fire site.
7） Sheet metal assembly
Our company adopts precision fixture positioning assembly. So that the customer’s products can be successfully assembled on the internal parts.
8） Inspection and packaging
We strictly track the production process and form a complete system. Our company carries out an all-round manual quality inspection on each product. We regularly hold quality meetings to put product quality first. Also, package them into the box according to transportation requirements.
9） Guidance on product assembly
As part of the after-sales service, we provide customers with a complete set of the assembly process. In addtion, on-site guidance is available to provide technical support. We took the production practice and process exploration of this project. After that, our company has adopted a prepreg layer in the construction process of the combustion-supporting resin. This method effectively breaks the disadvantage of high viscosity of the combustion-supporting resin. And it is difficult to penetrate glass fiber, which effectively provides production efficiency. And product strength performance.
10）After Sales Service
We have long been focusing on providing high-quality and comprehensive after-sales service. Putting customer satisfaction first. For different customers, we provide them with different solutions and excellent after-sales service. We believe that only customer satisfaction is our real success. Our cmpany is a manufacturer. We can customize FRP products of different colors, lengths, diameters, shapes, sizes according to the needs. Any products related to MIYABI factory production quality will offer after-sales support.
2.2 Fanuc robot
With the rapid development of intelligent robots, we also have made steady progress. Our company make improvement in producing the FRP shell of robots. Also, we have more opportunities to take part in the world-renowned robot manufacturing supply chain, such as Fanuc robot. In the process of continuous learning, our FRP shell technology for producing robots has matured.
According to reports, FANUC robots were established in Japan in 1956. It has strong strength in scientific research, design, manufacturing, and sales of CNC systems. Also, it is the world’s largest famous manufacturer specializing in the production of CNC devices, robots, and intelligent equipment. Among them, the market share of robots is the first in the world. In addtion, we know it as one of the “big four families” of global industrial robots. On the scene, FANUC showed a variety of scara robot applications. The maximum load of SR-3iA is 3kg and the maximum radius of movement is 400mm. Thelargestm load of SR-6iA is 6kg and the largest radius of movement is 650mm. People use the two robots in the high-speed transportation of small products in the 3C industry. Although the two robots are small in size but high inefficiency.
Guangzhou fanuc robot co., ltd. will integrate resources of its parent company in south China. They want to build a south China base. It will integrate robot sales, display, training, technical support, processing, manufacturing and warehousing. Collect the superior technological resources around the direction of intelligent manufacturing. For example, robots, intelligent machinery, Internet of things, and artificial intelligence. Finally, build an intelligent manufacturing ecosystem. Drive the development and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing industry in south China.
3. Fiberglass robot prospect
Guangzhou Development Zone actively promotes the settle of global robotics leaders such as Fanuc. Also, it conducted in-depth cooperation with large central enterprises. Introducing China Intelligent Equipment Research Institute which has a total investment of 1 billion yuan, the National Robotics Inspection and Evaluation Guangzhou Center. Establish the first robot research institute jointly created by China and Israel. Introduce Israeli robot companies and technologies, promote the settle of high-growth domestic enterprises. Many projects have started or put into production. For example, Guangzhou Ruisong Technology Robotics and System Integration Technology Base. Giant Wheel Robot and Intelligent Manufacturing Industrialization Base.
There is strong atmosphere of technological innovation in Guangzhou Robot Industrial Park. And it has attracted more and more upstream and downstream firms to join it due to the strong magnetic field effect. This makes the development zone of Guangzhou’s high-end intelligent manufacturing industry even clearer.
Our company locates in the south of Guangzhou and is a core member of the Greater Bay Area. This is an area where personal talents and technology are developed, and transportation is very convenient. The superior geographical position allows us to have more chances to take part in the robot industry.
With the continuous investment and development in the artificial intelligence industry. Now, there are more than 2,000 artificial intelligence companies in the Greater Bay Area. And they have an annual output value of nearly 200 billion yuan. It has basically formed a complete industrial chain in three types of subdivided industries. They are robotics, artificial intelligence processors and sensors, application systems.