Hello! I’m doing some research on machines and i have been looking at robotic arms (Robot systems | KUKA AG). So far i’ve seen it used in to sepereate videos for surfboard shaping.
One of them used it for shaping and the other was used for sanding.
Does anyone have information on why most manufacturers stick to cnc instead of a robot?
Seems to me that a robot would have been the better investment due to its abillity of doing both shaping and sanding?
Looking for thoughts and insights:)
Regards a shaper with damaged arms, thanks.
Severin Welle
My thought, more of a guess really, is that the cost to ‘play’ is less with 3-axis (cartesian) machines than it is with 6-axis robots. Not that I wouldn’t mind finding a ‘droid’ that could sand for me…
Could be because of the time involved in both tasks. Shaping a foam blank by hand can be a 1 1/2 — 3 hr process. A good hand shaper is lucky if he can do 4–6 finished blanks in a 8 hour day. And that’s working his a$$ off. Where as a good sander could sand 10 —- 20 glassed and hot coated blanks in the same time frame. CNC greatly cut the time involved in the part of the process that needed it most. An added bonus is Accuracy. Blanks can be duplicated without human error. You wouldn’t gain enough in the sanding process to make it worth the investment. And jrandy is right robots are more expensive. You’d either need more than one robot or he’d have to be on wheels so a human could wheel him around the factory to do different tasks. But I guess if he has “Arms” you could buy one with legs. He could get around the factory in his Vans doing a variety of tasks.
