Digital electronic automation
Digital Electronic Automation ( DEA ) was one of the world's leading manufacturers of automated inspection systems, including coordinate measuring machines, inspection robots and assembly robots. The Italian company had three plants in Moncalieri on the outskirts of Turin until around 2000 : one for coordinate measuring machines (CMM) and assembly robots, a second for assembly robots and systems, and a third for the machining of components.
history
DEA was founded in 1962 as a private company by the mechatronics pioneer Franco Sartorio , and was later part of Raggruppamento Selenia Elsag, which itself belonged to the state-owned STET group. However, DEA was run as an independent company. In the late 1970s, DEA entered the field of robotics , where it was internationally successful. In 1979 the Pragma A3000 assembly robot was introduced, which had a clear lead over other comparable systems.
In 1980 DEA had conquered around a third of the world market for coordinate measuring machines. The success was based on the quality of the design and the superior mechanical structure of the machines as well as the accuracy of the measuring probes and the wide range of products. The unparalleled experience and pioneering work in the field of measuring machines have secured DEA's position as world market leader.
With the development of the Bravo measurement robot for online inspection in 1981, DEA introduced a new concept of programmable measurement for in-process control and flexible production lines. Two factories in Italy as well as German, Japanese and American subsidiaries with around 800 employees and a worldwide network of sales and service representatives guarantee support and information to hundreds of customers in 40 countries. The company's sales in 1985 were approximately $ 67 million, which rose to approximately $ 90 million in 1986.
In 1987 DEA employed around 1,100 people at three locations in Italy. In addition, 200 people were employed in various subsidiaries around the world, including the US, Spain, France, UK and Japan. Around 80% of DEA was active in the area of coordinate measuring machines. Around 15% of this is due to inspection robots. Inspection robots have proven to be ideal for flexible manufacturing systems as well as for the production of large weldments such as car bodies .
After DEA had been the leading manufacturer of coordinate measuring machines for thirty years, the company became part of the American company Brown & Sharpe Corporation in 1994 , which was taken over by the Swedish company Hexagon AB in 2001 .
Products
With more than 70 models, DEA offered the world's most comprehensive range of products in terms of size (from 0.1 to 400 m³), measurement methods, degree of automation and data processing. DEA had a full range of manual, motorized and CNC coordinate measuring machines, ranging from small machines up to 16 m in the X-axis. A typical two-armed Bravo coordinate measuring machine cost about $ 440,000.
In the field of robotics , the company offered different versions. The most successful of these was the Faber C5000 , a cylindrical coordinate machine designed for safe and reliable operation in a production environment . It was a high-speed machine designed for a wide variety of tasks including intelligent assembly and work handling. The Faber C5000 robot had a modular structure and offered three, four and five axes, all of which were driven by DC motors with resolver position encoders. In three-axis form, the machine could handle payloads of up to 20 kg. The C5000 was controlled by the DEA RCS robot controller, which enabled programming via a PC. In addition, there was a self-learning function with manual operation control via a handheld device and the control of force and vision sensor systems as well as connection to computer systems for factory automation.
The Pragma robots from two generations ( A3000 and H3000 ) were well known. The H3000 was an improved version of the classic A3000 . Both the speed of the robot and its acceleration are twice as high as in the previous model. The payload of the H3000 depended on the number of axles. In three-axis form, the machine could handle 10 kg, with the four-axis machine it was 5 kg.
DEA also had the Faber C1000 robot , the inexpensive assembly robot . The C1000 was another cylindrical coordinate machine with two, three and four axes - again all driven by DC motors equipped with incremental encoders. The machine was not as fast as the Faber C5000 and its 3kg payload limits its use to transporting and assembling small parts.
In addition, DEA produced various control units that were designed for the difficult environmental conditions. Among other things, the system 835 was produced, which was used in the fully automatic storage systems.
literature
- Friedhelm Gröteke: Robots as Rescuers , Zeit online , April 12, 1985, updated November 22, 2012.
- John Mortimer and Brian Rooks: The International Robot Industry Report , Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1987, DOI 10.1007 / 978-3-662-13174-9, ISBN 978-3-540-16353-4 .
- Marina Cassi Giuseppe Legato: Addio al pioniere della meccatronica L'uomo che portò i robot in fabbrica , La Stampa , 26/05/2012.