What did we set out to prove?
We set up this experiment to evaluate the feasibility of using magnetic grippers to pick and place thin sheet metal parts.
Why is this cool?
For one, magnets are awesome! Secondly, there are many applications where using magnetic gripping can provide benefits over typical solutions that use vacuum grippers (i.e., suction cups). After all, vacuum grippers don’t work so well if your post-processed part looks like Swiss cheese!
What are the challenges?
The benefit of magnetic grippers is that they don’t need to form a seal with a part; they just need ferrous material to attract. However, the unique challenge with electromagnetic gripping is finding the “Goldilocks Zone” for grip power for your part—i.e., enough attractive force to securely grip the part, but not so much as to accidentally pick up more than one piece at a time. The more lightweight and thinner the parts, the more challenging it is to find the perfect amount of force.
To experiment with this in the context of a practical application, we chose thin metal saw blades, as they are relatively thin and come in several sizes (i.e., varied payloads).
We set up stacks of various-sized blades and tested picking them up one at a time and placing them into a single stack. We kept an eye on the rest of the stack to see if the gripper ever influenced any blades beneath the one we wanted to grip.
What did we learn?
In this experiment, it was surprisingly easy to find the “Goldilocks” zone for grip force. Although we have the ability to tune the force up and down with each pick-and-place operation depending on the payload, one force setting proved to be effective for all sizes of saw blades.
Future applications?
Our test shows that electromagnetic grippers are very suitable for applications where vacuum grippers may be less favorable:
- Packaging/stacking post-processed metal parts – e.g., packaging custom laser-cut parts
- Transferring metal parts from station to station – e.g., incremental stamping
- Applications where compressed air/vacuum supply is not readily available
Get in Touch!
If you’re looking to explore how robotic solutions can enhance your operations, reach out to us! We can help you spec out your robotic needs and solutions, take your parts, provide a proof of concept, and deliver the results from our engineering study. This way, you can make the best, most informed robotic investments for your operations.