At the IAA in Frankfurt, the EDAG Group will be presenting not just its live engineering project #collectivio, but also seven technological innovations from the fields of lightweight design and eMobility. As the growing number of variants continues to increase due to the alternative powertrains available, greater flexibility and above all more lightweight solutions, both for components but also in manufacturing, are called for. Wiesbaden-based engineering specialists EDAG have already in recent years provided impressive evidence of the company's engineering skills in additive manufacturing. EDAG Production Solutions GmbH & Co. KG are continuing this success story this year with a number of projects including the in-house development of a "media-free gripper".
For us, lightweight design competence, car IT and production solutions remain key future-oriented subjects. I am delighted that we can once again offer a real firework display of proactively developed technology concepts in these future fields here in Frankfurt," declares Jürgen Vogt, CEO of the EDAG Group.
With the inhouse development of an additively manufactured "media free gripper", EDAG Production Solutions GmbH & Co. KG are looking firmly to the future, and at this year's IAA will be showing how it will soon be possible to save both energy and space in the factory of the future.
Gripper systems in production usually have pneumatic systems or electric motors for the grippers. These solutions come with a correspondingly high weight of their own and high mass inertia, and the robots that control these grippers must be dimensioned accordingly. With our "media free gripper", we have developed a passive gripper system, i.e. apart from the robot itself, it utilises no other power source. By dispensing with additional motors and sensors, weight savings of up to 75 percent are possible, compared to conventional systems. Further advantages are simple assembly and easy-to-change components following a crash. Standardised assemblies mean that warehousing space can be significantly minimised. Also, all parts required as spares or for modifications can simply be reprinted using the additive manufacturing method.
The media free gripper is therefore not just an example of lightweight design in manufacturing, but also of cost-optimised production throughout the entire life cycle.