I am sure most of you have heard of the firm from Brescia, Gimatic, specialized in the production of automation gripping systems, whereby the term “gripping systems” refers to the hands of a robot, of both a collaborative (so-called cobot) and industrial nature.
Why am I talking about this?
Because not long ago we started working with Gimatic on an interesting and stimulating collaboration
to which it is a pleasure to dedicate this post.
Gimatic mainly operates on the automotive market a sector which is renowned for its ability to drive innovation and attract and implement all aspects of robotics and automation. The automotive market accounts for around 50% of Gimatic’s yearly turnover, plus the general automation sector (therefore any automated solution even without the use of robots), the medical sector, electronics sector and the farming sector.
Since the year it was founded in 1985, Gimatic has always worked in the hydraulic component sector, therefore the design and manufacturing of grippers that open and close using a compressed air system. In 2012 however, the company launched a mechatronics division (mainly addressing the demands of the medical sector, but it is currently expanding to include also other sectors), which manufacturers gripping systems that open and close driven by electric motor systems. It is presently a fairly small division, but there is great potential that every year has witnessed an increase of about 50%.
And it is the mechatronics aspect which brought Gimatic and MICROingranaggi together for the first time.
The solutions proposed by the Gimatic mechatronics division feature a mechanical gripping system but the handling of the grippers is no longer driven by a hydraulic piston but rather by an electric motor. Motors which often require mechanical gears.
MICROingranaggi, as you well know, is specialized in the design and manufacturing high precision micro mechanical and electro-mechanical components, we have been able to supply Gimatic with that added value that they were not able to achieve in-house.
The co-engineering work we conducted alongside the Gimatic technical department mainly focused on two solutions, two remarkably innovative products, which have achieved superior levels of technology which integrate electric motors, in addition to gears positioned between the motor and the gripping system.
The first is a
fully electrical gripper available and pairable for use with collaborative robots.
It is a certified gripper for the pharmaceutical sector but you can also be used in other application contexts. It is a long stroke gripper, i.e. it is characterized by wide opening of the fingers, allowing the user to handle different sized objects, adapting to various needs.
The second is
a fully mechatronic tool change system.
Hence, therefore, an electrical actuator that allows robots to automatically change hands, replacing them with one that is suitable for a different type of processing. It is the first electric tool change actuator in the world, it is white room certified and certified to work in collaboration with robots.
In both cases the support we provided to Gimatic referred to the product design and optimization phases, which led on to the sampling, assembly, and component testing of systems installed on the Gimatic solutions, through to the manufacturing phase.
As is the case for many more projects we embark on, it was an exceptionally interesting challenge which enthused us from the very first phases, and allowed us to branch out towards non-conventional solutions, such as for instance the realization of certain parts of the products designed for use on the Gimatic solutions combining steel and techno polymers.
