Who and what is FANUC
EOL - End Of Line Solutions
Improved Robot Features and Peripheral Intelligence
Shifting “Backwards” towards the process area
Q & A
1956
Development of the first NC in
the Japanese private sector
1958
Shipping of the first
commercial NC
1972
Introduction of first CNC and
first Robodrill in Japan
1973
First CNC and Robodrill
installation in Europe
1974
Installation of
first industrial
robot in Japan
1975
Introduction of
first Robocut
in Japan
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 2000 2010 TODAY 1995 1955
2012
Stronger than ever:
the yellow success story continues
1983
First FANUC robot
installation in Europe
1984
Development of first
Roboshot in Japan
1986
First installation of
Roboshot in Europe
2010
FANUC is the leading global
manufacturer of factory
automation
1977
Installation of first
Robocut in Europe
⅓ of the staff at our headquarter in Japan
are young and innovative engineers
in research and development
Yellow surrounds you everywhere
Agriculture
Aerospace
Automotive
Energy
Construction
Wood
Die & Mold
Plastics
Metal
Glass
Beverage
Paper
Medical &
Pharma-
ceuticals
Electronics
Watch
Textile
Food
Cosmetics
Jewellery
The yellow world
thinks green
Green thinking is an integral part of our philosophy. In our
whole production, our goal is to be as neutral to our
environment as possible, reducing our energy consumption
and carbon footprint.
Our products are engineered to optimise energy consumption
through intelligent energy management. The benefit to you:
higher productivity combined with significantly lower energy
consumption.
ECO friendly
Green
innovation
Sustainability
Motion-
optimisation
Waste-
management
Green
technology
Who and what is FANUC
EOL - End Of Line Solutions
Improved Robot Features and Peripheral Intelligence
Shifting “Backwards” towards the process area
Q & A
EOL – End Of Line Solutions
Robots… First used on a large scale to perform serial and uniform tasks in the automotive (heavy
loads, all kinds of welding and painting) or the early electronics production industry. As these robots
were built to work with “industrial” products, the first spin off was for similar, other uniform tasks as box
or bag palletizing. From there on it moved to other tasks as picking and packing with dedicated robots,
specially designed and built for the job.
Who and what is FANUC
EOL - End Of Line Solutions
Improved Robot Features and Peripheral Intelligence
Shifting “Backwards” towards the process area
Q & A
Improved Robot Features and Peripheral Intelligence
The future of robotics in general and more specific for the Food Industry is in the (1) Improvement of
the robots themselves and the equipment around it, the (2) Peripheral Intelligence.
This means that the robot becomes more suitable for specific tasks and it’s environment.
The use of “accepted” components and products in the design and production allows this evolution.
1. For robots it’s about eg. using durable epoxy coating which makes that a robot body has a smooth
and easy cleanable durable surface like on the M-3iA. Dedicated cleaning products can now be
used. An other option is to make a robot arm of Anodized Aluminum as the LRM-200iC/5WP
(Wash Proof). The Arm or Delta System itself is constructed in such a way that it Dust and Water
tight (IP67). Oil or grease are of the Food Grade type or even not used at all as in the M-430iA
series wrist. This was the first robot arm ever which received the USDA (United States Department
of Agriculture) approval for direct use in “Meat and Poultry”.
2. Peripheral Intelligence is about making a robot able to see, follow and grip or pluck. First of all, a
robot needs to know where “a product” is. Fix or random and a uniform shape or by nature. Fix and
uniform are easy… At random and shaped by nature is the challenge! For this task we need vision
systems, entirely depending of the task in needs to perform. Position, orientation and rotation,
color, size, special details, quality,…Once a product is recognized, it must be gripped or plucked.
This can be done for fix and uniform products with “simple” EOA -tools(End Of Arm) or specific
designed for the fruits of mother nature…
Improved Robot Features and Peripheral Intelligence
The robot picks only the mushrooms that have the desired size. Vision and image
processing determine the mushrooms that are to be picked.
Improved Robot Features and Peripheral Intelligence
Real and digitalized image of bell peppers. Development by Genicap en CWI, The
Netherlands .
Improved Robot Features and Peripheral Intelligence
By Lacquey, The Netherlands, in
cooperation with TU Delf – 3ME
BioMechanical Engineering.
Design by Schunk
Design by Festo
Who and what is FANUC
EOL - End Of Line Solutions
Improved Robot Features and Peripheral Intelligence
Shifting “Backwards” towards the process area
Q & A
Shifting „Backwards“ towards the processing area
This “shifting Backwards towards the processing area” could result into a Revolution in the Food
Industry. We are now able to combine all previous products and techniques to deliver solutions in an
environment where it was never possible before.
These specific robots, eyes and hands are now a true, affordable and durable long-term replacement
option for manual labor with increased quality and higher constant throughput improvement!
No longer the need for finding and keeping the workforce, training/experience, protective clothing or
additional other costs… You know this !
Shifting „Backwards“ towards the processing area
Installing 68 robots to process over 400,000 lettuces a day has helped a
Spanish business to maintain continuity of output and control of quality
together with reducing labor demands by 80%.