WOP and ABB Will Collaborate on Creating a Robotic Solution for Laser Micromachining

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WOP and ABB Will Collaborate on Creating a Robotic Solution for Laser Micromachining

25 November, 2021

WOP is pleased to announce a new project with ABB as a partner, with the funding and support from EU Project Trinity.

We are going to develop a complete robotized laser micro-micromachining workstation based on the integration of the collaborative robotic solution with machine vision, force detector, and custom software.

This robotic solution will enable us to perform faster, cheaper, and more flexible than conventional laser micromachining solutions.

Collaborative robotics and 24/7 remote workflow management is still novel approach in the laser micromachining industry.

COLLABORATIVE ROBOTICS SOLUTION FOR LASER MICROMACHINING (CORS) is part of a sub-project that has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s H2020 research and innovation program via an Open Call issued and executed under project TRINITY (grant agreement No 825196).

NEED

With a strong R&D background, WOP has developed winning laser micromachining solutions over the years. Today, they are already applicable and widely used in industry, leading to a growth in production.

However, manual work – handling of materials – we use today becomes way too time-consuming.

Microfabrication speed and yield is limited to the operator samples handling speed. But, there is an accuracy of 1 µm needed while handling the materials, and there is currently no available robotic solution that can achieve it.

For this purpose, cooperation between two companies has been set up – WOP, operating in laser micromachining, and ABB AS, a robotic solution supplier.

APPROACH

The main aim of the CORS project is to develop a complete robotized laser micro-micromachining workstation based on the integration of the collaborative robotic solution with machine vision, force detector, and custom software.

The main milestones of the project are to test and demonstrate the solution in WOP’s manufacturing premises located in Vilnius, Lithuania.

During the testing, we aim to find ways to combine machine vision with a collaborative robot to achieve the required 1um accuracy.

Also, to design an effective collaborative end-effector for different picking methods (vacuum, Bernoulli, mechanical gripping) for grabbing the glass materials.

BENEFIT

The result of the project will be a starting point of our company’s vision to reach full system automatization with collaborative robotic in the next 5 years.

Developed laser micromachining workstation with an integrated collaborative robot will be used for production services at WOP facilities, also as the complete product for our clients, mainly in SEMI and BIOTECH fields.

At WOP, we expect to achieve a 4x increase in production quantity with the same person due to 24/7 fabrication.

By implementing an automatization solution in the laser system client will be able to increase production yield by ~200%. Also, qualitative results will be achieved – expected increase in accuracy up to 50x. That would result in expanded capabilities and decreased defects percentage.