Flex Cell CAM
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A Flex Cell is a robotic bending cell that includes a press brake, a robot, and automated material handling equipment such as pallets, grippers, and conveyors.
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Flex Cell CAM is offline software that includes a robotic bending CAM system capable of creating bending solutions for Flex Cell.
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Flex Cell CAM automates the programming of the robot to pick up blanks from input pallets, load them into the press brake for bending, and deposit the finished parts on output pallets.
Flex Cell CAM includes the following specific operations when computing a solution:
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Select a suitable gripper to use, based on the part geometry and size.
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Compute a good gripper position where the gripper can hold the part.
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Compute a pickup strategy (selecting a pallet, placing the part on the pallet).
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Compute a bending trajectory with suitable strategies for part insertion, holding the part during bending and part extraction after bending.
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Compute a deposit strategy (selecting a deposit pallet, arranging part in stacks on the pallet).
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Figuring out if any regripping operations are required between bends, or before deposit, and inserting them as needed.
Flex Cell CAM simulation
Computing a Flex Cell CAM solution follows the same steps as computing a solution for a manual press brake. Open a part, and press the B to compute the solution.
The solution computed by Flex Cell CAM includes a complete simulation of all the robot trajectory from picking up the blank all the way to depositing the finished part on the output pallet. Every step of this trajectory is also collision-checked, and validated for reachability by the robot.
As you edit the solution, these checks are done immediately in real time, so you never have to request for a collision check to take place - it happens instantly every time you edit the solution, and the results are updated in the navigator grid on the top.