Cartesian H-gantry for sensitive workpieces. The high-speed H-gantry is breaking all speed records. It’s 30% faster than any conventional Cartesian handling unit – with comparable procurement costs. Festo has developed this high-speed handling unit for dynamic assembly operations in the fields of photovoltaic, electronics and small parts handling, and wherever small, lightweight mass-produced items need to be positioned quickly and flexibly.

This new type of 3D/planar surface gantry covers a square-shaped working area that is significantly larger than that of robot systems with delta kinematics, which can only work in round or kidney-shaped areas. Other disadvantages of delta robots are the high costs, the installation weight of around 150 kg and the space needed.

Low profile, fast and precise
The high-speed H-gantry, on the other hand, has a very low profile, a low centre of gravity and a simpler base than fast delta robots. Optimised acceleration and deceleration characteristics enable an accuracy of 0.1 mm to be achieved during suction and gripping.

Thanks to an engineering trick, the H-gantry reaches a speed of 5 metres per second and an acceleration rate of 50 m/s². The two toothed belt axes EGC are connected to the crossmember with a single rotating toothed belt around the drive shaft. The belt is driven by two servomotors EMMS. A positive side effect is that no motor needs to be moved within the X-Y area with its two degrees of freedom. And reduced loads facilitate quick, dynamic motion and result in less wear.

Gripping with Bernoulli
The linear-rotary module of the high-speed H-gantry is ingenious too. It consists of a spindle sleeve with integrated energy through-feed for the front-end module and comprises the Z-axis, to which the gripper unit is attached. The linear-rotary module accelerates to a speed of 1.5 metres per second at a rate of 20 m/s². The Bernoulli suction gripper at the front-end of the linear-rotary module is the ideal solution for handling solar modules and other fragile workpieces.

By applying overpressure to the Bernoulli gripper, it picks up workpieces such as silicon wafers in a contactless manner. Underpressure is simultaneously generated at the surface to be gripped in order to draw the wafer in. The workpiece is thus drawn towards the gripper until applied load, back pressure force from the nozzle and the force of attraction resulting from the fluid’s force of acceleration are at equilibrium. This occurs at a certain distance (approx. 0.5 to 3 mm) between the gripper and the surface to be gripped, so that the object is held in place in a contactless fashion.

Robotics for system solutions
The handling unit is based on robotic controller CMXR. The CMXR unites mechanical systems, as well as electric drive and control technology into a complete kinematic system solution and coordinates highly dynamic motion in 3D space. The CMXR functions as an interface to the master controllers on the one hand and to the servo-axes’ motor controllers and the valve terminals on the other. And that’s not all: the controller makes it possible to incorporate image processing systems such as Festo’s intelligent SBO..-Q compact camera system. Applications with moving objects can also be implemented with the help of the camera system and available conveyor systems.

The ready-to-install system solution is delivered directly to the machine, completely tested and assembled. All pertinent engineering data and circuit diagrams are also supplied, together with a comprehensive functions and fixed price guarantee. Users don’t just receive hardware in the form of a ready-to-connect assembly or subsystem, but a complete value creation package. Complete solutions reduce the workload for technical staff, keep engineering expenses to a minimum, facilitate the procurement process and reduce process costs.