April 23, 2020 - With the launch of the Injection Molding Machine Interface (IMMI), Universal Robots makes the communication between its e-Series cobots and injection molding machines. IMMI supports injection molding machines with EUROMAP 67 and SPI AN-146 communication interfaces. The global market for collaborative robots in the plastics and polymers industry is expected to grow exponentially over the next five years, from $250M in 2020 to $1.5B in 2025. According to BIS Research , 15 percent of all cobot applications in 2020 will be within injection molding, automating tasks such as placing inserts into molds and moving parts through post-mold processes.
These are tasks that require repeatability, complex motions, and demanding angles, making them suited for the six-axis cobots from Universal Robots (UR). The cobots can be mounted on top or beside an injection molding machine and they can work alongside human operators without safety cages (subject to risk assessment). The IMMI is installed in the UR cobots’ control box in less than ten minutes, providing deep integration with the robot system, including safety functionality, and leveraging the e-Series cobots’ control box expansion port for easy mounting and cable management. An IMMI template for the Universal Robots Polyscope operating system is provided for use in the programming tree.
