We are constantly working on improving our products as well as developing new products to the optimum. Our Research & Development department, together with the Application Technology department, therefore carries out various product tests on a daily basis. The more precise these tests are carried out, the more representative information can be obtained from them. For this reason, we now have an industrial polishing robot on site in Unna for our polishing tests. Our new mechanical colleague is equipped with a force-sensitive Active Contact Flange by FerRobotics. This means that it complies with current industry standards, as used by leading OEMs.
Our New (Mechanical) Colleague.
Scientific testing methods for the best products
But why does a polishing robot make our product testing more accurate?
Normally, our products are tested manually. A developer or application engineer applies the product, and of course each person's approach is slightly different – even if test parameters are pre-determined. Body size, force application, fatigue or even the person's form on the day are influencing factors that have a strong impact even with high precision. For example, each person has a slightly different way of polishing, and after the 10th polishing pass, one may no longer have as much strength to guide the machine as during the first pass. This inevitably leads to different results, so that there is no exact comparability between individual trials.
So, in order to create comparability of tests and results when developing new pads or polishes, we now use our OEM polishing robot. Using standardized test procedures for different applications, our new polishing robot tests our polishes with high precision for, for example, gloss level, grinding degree or spray behavior. The behavior of our polishes with different pads or polishing machines or on different paints can also be scientifically determined.
All relevant parameters can be preset and changed on the robot so that it always polishes consistently. For example, the force applied, the feed rate and much more can be programmed. Different recipes or pads can thus be compared objectively and scientifically. Results are reproducible and thus clearly interpretable. There are no more variances as in conventional, manual tests. This guarantees that we can develop our products to the optimum.
The entire system was supplied by the Austrian company accell, which is a leader in the field of ready-to-use robotic cells for grinding, polishing & deburring tasks.
