Back in July, one of our long lasting automotive seating customers submitted a very interesting and custom request. This customer asked us to develop and provide a vision guided cobot and EOAT (end of arm tooling) that would help a station operator test and verify power seat controls. Cobots are usually used to automate a repetitive task that is then handed off to a human for inspection. This application was no exception.

This cobot’s primary function would be to actuate a passenger “max recline” seat recline motion and integrate it into an already installed function test station on the main passenger build line. This “max recline” seat EOL tester functions the seat to a reclined position to verify numerous points of the lift sensor functions.

In order to perform its primary responsibility, our engineers had to do some very creative design work. Most of the design work was targeted towards the EOAT. In this blog, we will share some of the more complex hurdles our engineers had to jump over in order to provide an EOAT to satisfy this particular customer.

Design for Product Safety

When mechanically designing this EOAT, our engineers paid close attention to vital details to ensure that the EOAT didn’t cause any damage to the seat. In order to do this, careful consideration was taken to pick and integrate different types of material that would prevent damage, as well as, enable the EOAT to complete its tasks.

Design for Operator Safety

Even though cobots are meant to be used in collaboration with other human operators, it is still important to provide design and EOAT that promotes safety. This is what mhlnew.com had to say about it in an article from 2019:

“While a cobot is regarded as safer than a bulky, industrial robot, manufacturers should consider how more equipment can improve safety and increase risk of injury.”

One of the ways we did this was by designing the tooling without any sharp edges and with softer material if necessary. This will not only make the human operator feel more at ease, but will also prevent injury in the event that an accident does happen.

Design for Versatility

It is always important to our customers that we provide equipment that can be versatile. The reason for that is to prevent future purchases to be made for additional equipment when the application changes. Anyone who has been in the material handling or automation industry knows that this can happen quite often. This is especially true in the automotive industry. Designing this EOAT was no exception.

We provided tooling that could accomplish both the functions of reclining and track/cushion movements. We did this in case the cobot needed to reset the build position for downstream operations that may change in the future.

At Tuff Automation, innovation is important. That is why, year after year, we have strived to expand our capabilities and provide complex solutions to our customers. As a result, Tuff has become a pioneer in the industry for providing forward-moving solutions to meet the status quo. Our customers and business partners continue to work with us knowing that we are willing and able to stand up to any engineering challenge. Check out some of the other case studies we’ve done in the links below:

Robots: https://www.tuffautomation.com/blog-1/2016/11/07/tuff-automation-does-robots-2

Boost Productivity: https://www.tuffautomation.com/blog-1/2015/12/15/our-conveyors-boost-proivity