At the
Automatica 2023 trade show taking place this week in Munich,
Universal Robots, a Danish manufacturer of collaborative robots (cobots), has unveiled PolyScope X, a new software platform specifically developed for machine tending tasks. Through a new customisable user interface, it will add new levels of flexibility to high-mix, low-volume machine tending automation. With PolyScope X, machine shop operators can achieve changeover times of less than 10min – far below what is possible today with any other software.
It will empower users to run more batches in a day and to run them in a more strategic and flexible way. PolyScope X is therefore ideal for high-mix, low-volume production and is introduced at a time when manufacturers all over the world are looking for increased flexibility to handle shifting and increasingly diverse orders. At the same time, PolyScope X introduces a powerful reworked programming experience and toolset which enables integrators and OEM partners to structure their program code into operations that can be re-used throughout the program, making each operation simpler to understand, maintain and troubleshoot.
Anders Billesø Beck, Universal Robot’s vice president for strategy and innovation, said: “PolyScope X is a landmark development in machine-tending automation. The simplicity of the user interface and the much faster changeover times will provide manufacturers with a whole new set of possibilities for how to automate their machine tending tasks and it will allow them to break some of the barriers that are holding them back today. I wouldn’t hesitate to call it a gamechanger for the industry.”
Throughout the process of developing PolyScope X, the UR team has involved customers and partners. A prototype of the software was revealed at
IMTS 2022 in Chicago and together with beta testers this has provided valuable feedback for the team.
Mr Beck continued: “PolyScope X is a perfect example of how we approach innovation at Universal Robots. We want to include our partners and end-customers right from the start, making sure we understand the full scope of the challenges our customers are facing. For me, this is an essential part of creating this new product and we are confident as a result that it will help our customers to grow and reach their full potential.”
To begin with, PolyScope X for machine tending will be rolled out in Germany, the UK and Denmark.