SCHUNK Cooperation with Vision & Control
SCHUNK, the leading technological specialist for gripping technology and automation in Lauffen/ Neckar, Germany is entering a strategic partnership with Vision & Control, the specialist for industrial image processing in Suhl.
SCHUNK is expanding its product portfolio to develop its leading position in the field of mechatronic automation. Vision & Control is applying its know-how in a technological sector with outstanding prospects for the future, developing new sales opportunities and at the same time gaining a strong partner for global sales.
In May 2007 SCHUNK GmbH & Co. KG and Vision & Control GmbH negotiated a strategic partnership, as a result of which SCHUNK acquired a share of 28 percent in Vision & Control. For SCHUNK, this cooperation means the further expansion of the existing product portfolio and the further development of its solution competence. Vision & Control has now decided to cooperate with a partner who, due to advanced gripping and automation technology, can create the optimum conditions for the joint development of innovative products. The cooperation will benefit Vision & Control not only by giving the company access to the mechatronics know-how of SCHUNK, but also especially with global sales support, because SCHUNK's existing network of 21 affiliated companies will offer a well-aimed selection of components from the Vision & Control product portfolio.
"I decided on this cooperation because SCHUNK is a technology leader in its established sectors, just as Vision & Control is a leader in the field of industrial image processing," explains Dr. Jürgen Geffe, founder and managing director of Vision & Control GmbH. "The cooperation will strengthen not only our sales, but will also enable us to combine the mechatronic competence of SCHUNK with our know-how in the field of image processing technology. Both companies have many years of experience in their established technological fields and can offer their customers tried-and-tested products and solutions. Our areas of competence therefore complement each other exceptionally well, and our cooperation will allow us to achieve a unique concentration of know-how. For me, there is no doubt that our cooperation will produce extremely interesting innovations in the future."
High technology made by SCHUNK
SCHUNK has 1500 employees worldwide. The family-operated company is a global leader in toolholding systems and workholding technology, and is also on top of technical development in the area of gripping technology. The electric and pneumatic grippers made in Lauffen are suitable for all types of handling and assembly tasks, e.g. for moving miniature components the size of a pinhead or entire motor blocks, for collecting consumer products or packaging food hygienically. To move products and workpieces with maximum dynamics and precision, SCHUNK also offers a broad range of linear systems. These modular systems can be combined as needed, with a choice of all standard drive systems, from pneumatic pistons to toothed-belt or ball spindle drives and high-performance linear motors. In addition, SCHUNK offers stroke and rotary modules for moving objects to any required position.
SCHUNK has diverse robot accessories for the growing robot technology market, including, for example, tool changing systems, rotary feed-throughs, anti-collision and overload protection systems and force sensors. SCHUNK is also a global leader in the development of modular robot arms and joints for stationary and mobile systems, thus contributing to the indispensable pioneering work for the future technology of service robotics. The assortment of products offered by SCHUNK ranges from single components to complex assembly groups, which can easily be integrated in existing automation systems to guarantee efficient production combined with maximum reliability. Partnership between two technology leaders
This comprehensive competence in the field of mechatronics makes SCHUNK the ideal partner for Vision & Control, because image processing will play an increasingly important role especially in robotics and automation. For example, automation processes can become more flexible and faster through the use of computerized vision. Precise positioning and gripping of parts is made considerably less complicated when the systems can also visually monitor their working area. And in the future technology of service robotics, i.e. in the direct cooperation between man and machine, the ability to see is an essential precondition for the development of truly interactive assistance systems.
"Vision & Control is a perfect partner for us in the sector of industrial image processing, because it is the only company in the world that covers all four core areas of industrial image processing: hardware, software, optics and illumination," says Steffen Hönlinger, marketing manager of the division of automation at SCHUNK. "Our cooperation will allow us to take advantage of technological synergies and will open up entirely new dimensions for joint progress with technological developments in gripping and robotics technology."
The cooperation will considerably simplify the selection of components for the customers of both companies. Customers who previously had to collect and configure the single components for a visually supported gripping system will be able to procure all components from one source in the future, including grippers and all image processing modules. This significantly reduces not only procurement costs, but also installation costs, because the standardized parts are matched to operate via an interface developed jointly by SCHUNK and Vision & Control. First products available starting in autumn 2007
The first products resulting form the cooperation between Vision & Control and SCHUNK will already be on exhibit at the Motek 2007, where Vision & Control and SCHUNK will present the intelligent Vision Sensor SRV, a further development of the successful Camat series from Vision & Control. The SRV is a complete system that can be used without additional peripheral devices and will be available starting the first quarter of 2008. It can be utilized for practically all tasks in industrial image processing, for example the inspection of workpieces, completeness checks in assembly automation, searching for parts or positioning axes and angles.
In the simplest scenario all that is necessary is connection of the sensor to a power supply and teaching in, because in addition to a camera and lens, the sensor also contains all required hardware and software. The software, taken from the high-end "Pictor" series, provides highly efficient algorithms. After completion of the teaching, the SRV outputs a signal via the control line to indicate, for example, whether a part is present or missing. In contrast to solutions provided by other manufacturers on the market, the user does not have to first program the application on a computer and then port it to the sensor, but can instead start working practically right away.
To fully utilize the potential of the SRV, additional parameterization is possible with the free VCwin software, which is used to control all systems from Vision & Control. For applications in confined spaces, the SRV Vision Sensor is also available with a remote camera, which is contained in a separate casing with the dimensions 27.5 x 30 x 30 mm and can be mounted at a distance of up to 700 mm from the basic module. The camera element itself is so small that it can be integrated in a gripper; in fact, starting the first quarter of 2008, SCHUNK will offer an integrated SRV for the gripper of the series PGN-plus, PGB, PZN-plus and PZB and also JGP and JGZ model 80 and above. This will enable the user to combine sorting and quality assurance processes, for example, or to achieve a degree of accuracy in gripper positioning that is otherwise possible only at inordinate expense.
However, the end point of the development has not yet been reached. On the long term, the cooperation between Schunk and Vision & Control can be expected to produce fully integrated systems with high built-in intelligence - even including a seeing gripper, which can autonomously control processes, for example by stopping assembly when it detects an error.
If you should have further questions, wishes or suggestions, please contact our Corporate PR Manager:
Press Contact:
Angela Moser
Tel. 919-767-1990
Fax 919-572-2818
angela.moser@us.schunk.com
