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A robot-to-PLC Rosetta Stone

Think of it as an "easy button" for simplifying automation. That's how Dean Elkins, senior general manager of industrial robotics maker Yaskawa Motoman, describes the company's efforts to make it easier to integrate robots on the factory floor.

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“We’re working to become language-agnostic, since more people know how to program PLCs than know robotics languages,” he says. “To create a technology platform for programming across the factory floor, it’s essential that you use the languages people already know. It makes robots easier to integrate into a company’s existing skillsets and production systems.”

That was the rationale for the company’s introduction of its MLX200 and more recent MLX300 software, which translates PLC commands into robotics languages. MLX300 offers all the integration capabilities previously available with MLX200, with added features and benefits. The language conversion tools consist of function blocks on a card that is inserted into a robotic controller. “You no longer need a black box, since everything is embedded in the robotic controller, which means you get more horsepower in a smaller package occupying less floor space,” Elkins says.

Consider this use case. Pryor, OK-based Red Devil, Inc. is a privately-owned maker of more than 400 hand tools and chemical products, such as caulk, spackling, and sealants, for professional construction and home maintenance and improvement. Along with its brand-name products, Red Devil manufactures private-label products for some of America’s largest hardware and home center chains. The company’s manufacturing facility includes semi-automated production lines, which, until recently, terminated with a manual palletizing process.

S&R Robot Systems, LLC, a Yaskawa Motoman integrator, recommended the five-axis Motoman® MPL80 II robot with MLX200 controller platform to ease the replacement of manual palletizing.

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