Materials Research with Robot Support
With an international team, the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung [Iron Research] conducts cutting-edge basic materials research in the areas of mobility, energy, infrastructure, medicine and digitalization. The focus is on nanostructured metallic materials and semiconductors with the objective of developing new materials that are perfectly suited for the respective application. For support during the performance of traditional tensile tests, the institute chose a testing assistant based on the roboTest N system from ZwickRoell.
The tensile test, one of the most commonly performed tests in materials testing, is also prominent in the field of research and development. It provides information about basic material properties and is therefore one of the standard tests used in research of new materials. As a result, in addition to individual tests, the institute also often runs longer test series. Starting immediately, roboTest N, the lightweight robot testing assistant from ZwickRoell, will be supporting laboratory personnel during these rather repetitive tasks.
The roboTest N system consists of a movable base, on which a compartment magazine for 30 specimens is mounted in addition to the 6-axis lightweight robot with pneumatic gripper. Placed next to a 250 kN tensile testing machine and controlled via the autoEdition3 automation software, roboTest N is easily brought in for support as needed—especially since the setup is quick and easy, without the need for programming knowledge in robotics. During the time the system takes to test the specimens, laboratory personnel can focus on more complex tasks. The data acquired is directly transmitted to the existing in-house network.
roboTest N can also be used to automate frequently changing test series with almost any pick-and-place applications, for which a traditional robot test stand with longer setup times would be unsuitable.
