Injection Moulded Part Assembler

Challenge

SNPshot™ is a company specialising in DNA testing, with one of its key products being an “On the Farm” sampling unit. This sampler has cartridges loaded into it that take a DNA sample from animals that can then be sent to a lab for processing. These cartridges consist of 9 components and are each filled with a saline solution. The manufacturing of these cartridges is a labour-intensive task that has been identified as a production bottleneck.

To increase production output and minimise production time, SNPshot™ were seeking a system that would automate this process and produce completed cartridges at 20 units per minute.

Solution

The solution that RML provided for this opportunity was an A101 Injection Moulded Part Assembler. This machine received the cartridge bodies directly from an injection moulding machine. The other 8 components were loaded into separate bowl feeders where they were singulated and presented as individual units for loading.

The machine consisted of three robots, three Beckhoff servo Axis for precision positioning, eight cameras for part identification, a saline solution dispensing unit, a QR Barcode printer and Database integration for full traceability of all components. Each cap in the cartridge has a pre-printed miniature DM Code, then during the assembly process, this DM code is read and then sent to a Cloud Database through a RestAPI interface. The DM code is then validated in the database and a secondary QR code is returned through the same interface. This secondary QR code is then printed onto the exterior of the cartridge body.

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