Applications in Robotics
Applications in Robotics: The MICROingranaggi/Gimatic Collaboration
Testimonial by Guerino Rosso, Chief Operating Officer of Gimatic: “Our core business is the production of gripping systems for automation, where by ‘gripping systems’ we mean the hands of robots, both collaborative and industrial.”
“MICROingranaggi was able to provide us with that added value which we couldn't achieve internally, offering solid and professional support to the work of our technical department.”
New Division Since its founding in 1985, Gimatic has always been involved in pneumatic components. This means manufacturing grippers that open and close thanks to compressed air. Then, in 2012, the company created a mechatronics division (originally for medical applications, but now expanding to other fields with 50% growth each year), where gripping systems are produced that open and close with the help of electric motors. Following this mechatronics path, Gimatic came into contact with MICROingranaggi for the first time.
Coengineering The solutions developed by Gimatic's mechatronics division include a mechanical gripping system, but the movement of the grippers is no longer driven by a pneumatic piston, but by an electric motor. This motor often requires mechanical reduction. “Since MICROingranaggi specializes 100% in the design and production of precision mechanical and electromechanical microcomponents,” Rosso of Gimatic explains, “they were able to provide us with that added value we couldn’t achieve internally, offering solid and professional support to our technical department's work.” Thus, coengineering was the approach to find the best solution, leading to prototyping, pre-series, and finally to full-scale production.
In Practice The coengineering work with Gimatic's technical department involves two highly innovative solutions, tapping into the highest levels of technology and integrating electric motors, as well as gears placed between the motor and the gripping mechanism. One is a fully electric gripper, compatible with and designed for collaborative robots, and the other is a fully mechatronic tool changer system.