Challenged by a customer to deliver a factory automation solution capable of productivity beyond the reach of traditional precision drives, a creative system integration team succeeded by using Yamaha’s PHASER robots.
Yamaha Robotics Factory Automation Section has supplied its PHASER single-axis robots to system builders, enabling significantly faster movement of payloads over extended distances without compromising positioning accuracy.
Seeking a solution to raise the productivity of existing automation based on ball-screw drives, widely used for precision industrial motion control, the customer’s engineering team turned to Yamaha’s linear motor-driven technology.
Unlike traditional drives, Yamaha PHASER robots are not limited by critical-speed physics. They can accommodate longer travel distances and shorter cycle times while maintaining extremely high accuracy and reliability. System integrators can use this flexibility to deliver advanced automation solutions for factory owners looking to boost the productivity of their production processes.
The MF models of the Yamaha PHASER series operate with flat magnets. Their high thrust force lets them move payloads of up to 160 kg with maximum precision and dynamic performance over distances of up to four metres. While maintaining a compact design, the linear axes have durable stainless-steel covers that prevent dirt and foreign particles from entering the drive system. In contrast to ball-screw-driven linear axes, there are only a few sliding and rotating components, resulting in noticeably quieter operation.
A system integration team in Japan turned to Yamaha to help meet two customer requirements aimed at increasing productivity through faster workpiece handling. The first challenge was to shorten the cycle time of a process consisting of two operations that required workpieces to be transported over a travel distance of 500 mm.
Without changing the underlying technology, there was little scope for improvement. The critical speed, a fundamental limitation linked to the unsupported length of the ball screw, prevented further increases in rotational speed. As a result, cycle times could not be reduced by simply running the system faster.
By creating a completely new solution using Yamaha’s PHASER linear motor actuators, the team achieved an approximately 40% reduction in cycle time.
The customer’s second request was to simplify a process involving four operations that were being handled by two separate ball-screw drives, with an additional robot transferring workpieces from one drive to the other. The transfer of workpieces carried a high risk of errors, negatively affecting productivity. In addition, the two drives occupied a relatively large amount of factory floor space, and maintaining alignment between them presented further challenges. Because extending the stroke length of a ball-screw drive reduces its critical speed, combining the two drives into a single unit to eliminate the transfer risks was not a viable option.
To address these challenges, the team deployed a single one-metre-long PHASER unit to consolidate all processes in a single inline system. This reduced the required floor space while enabling faster workpiece transfer between operations. As a result, the total cycle time, including production processing time, was reduced from 2.04 seconds to 1.76 seconds.
PHASER robots deliver high-speed movement over extended distances and permit multi-carriage operation.
Yamaha position sensor system
Yamaha’s advanced position measurement system is resistant to dirt, condensation and oil, ensuring stable and precise position detection. Yamaha uses its own technology for linear scales with magnetic signal detection. The magnetic encoder offers the advantage of enabling position feedback over long travel distances at low cost. Thanks to semi-absolute encoders, the carriage position is detected within seconds upon power-up. The closed-loop control system ensures precise control and positioning of the carriage with a repeatability of ±5 µm.
The position encoder is critical intellectual property in linear motion. Designing and manufacturing its encoders in-house enables Yamaha to ensure continuous availability with short turnaround times for machine building and maintenance. It also gives Yamaha’s engineers deep knowledge of the technology, allowing them to provide expert technical support to customers.
Custom solutions
As standard, the robots are available with one or two carriages. Two carriages are particularly suitable when, for example, cycle times and set-up times need to be improved or when space for additional axis combinations is limited. Custom configurations also allow multi-carriage operation, enabling the use of three or more carriages on a single axis.
A collision avoidance program supports users in safely configuring multiple carriages. For transporting loads above 160 kg, a biaxial drive system configuration can be supplied. Yamaha provides an optimised control system for synchronised motion control in such cases.
High performance and versatility
Thanks to individually adjustable performance characteristics, the linear axes of the PHASER series are ideal for dynamic and precise applications. Their contactless drive ensures a long service life, even under high operating cycles. Typical applications include automation technology, electronics manufacturing, assembly and testing systems, gantry systems and applications in the food industry.
Future-proof scalability
By switching to Yamaha’s PHASER linear motor drives, the system integration team in Japan fulfilled its customer’s requirement for two automation solutions that are faster, more space-efficient and deliver greater productivity. The drives are also quieter and reliable, and reduce ownership costs for the operator. Moreover, the superior speed and precision of these drives have extended the team’s scope to develop even more powerful solutions in the future.
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