Adler Lacke awarded for innovative sanding robot
Austrian coatings manufacturer Adler-Werk Lackfabrik has been awarded the Tyrolean Innovation Prize for the development of the sensitive sanding robot „Abramotion“.
„Adler is more than just a paint manufacturer – we want to offer our customers added value beyond our quality products,“ says Richard Mölk, the company’s sales manager for the window industry. industry. He sees great potential in the sanding process: „With wooden windows, careful intermediate sanding is indispensable for a high-quality surface. However, the sanding process is very time-consuming and labour-intensive and accounts for about 60% of the total painting effort. This requires well-trained skilled personnel to ensure that there are no sanding errors.“
Sanding Robots with a sure touch
Until now, there have been no automated solutions for this work step. But that is now changing: the fully automatic „Abramotion“ sanding robot is a holistic solution for an optimal coating process. „Our customers in the window industry benefit in several ways when they use the robot,“ explains Mölk. „They achieve healthier and safer work processes as well as permanently high efficiency and result quality.“
One of the centrepieces of the robot, which the company developed together with two Austrian partners, is the sensitive sanding head: „It is the first sanding robot with a sure touch,“ explains Dr. Albert Rössler, R&D business manager at Adler. The high-tech camera system of the „Abramotion“ scans the product and calculates the optimal sanding sequence. In real time, the system regulates all parameters such as speed or contact pressure and thus guarantees an optimal result without sanding through. The parallel sequence of independent window and tool changes brings additional efficiency to the production process.
Versatile potential for sanding robot
The sanding robot was developed in close cooperation with customers from the window industry, but Richard Mölk and Dr. Rössler see great potential for other industries as well: „Wherever complex surface structures have to be sanded, the system enables a quantum leap in terms of efficiency, quality and process reliability.“ With this innovative strength, the company prevailed against strong competition at the Tyrolean Innovation Award 2021 and was the winner for the second time after 2016.
More information: www.adler-lacke.com