Engineers have taken advantage of 3-D printing for rapid prototyping of tools and parts in recent years. Technicians at the German firm Festo AG & Co. are taking the technology to the next level to mass produce end-of-arm robotic attachments.

If the past is prologue, production of food and beverage products will look a lot different in 10 years than it does today.

Used for high-speed picking, packing, cartoning and kitting applications, the Yaskawa delta-style Motoman MPP3 robot operates at a rate of 150 cycles/min.

Specifically for the high throughput requirements of end-of-line and bag palletizing applications, the ABB Robotics IRB 460 4-axis, 110kg payload, 2.4m reach robot utilizes a FlexGripper Clamp end-of-arm tool for the secure handling of heavy cases or products not compatible with vacuum handling techniques; the function package controls robot cell operation.

The Adept SmartController EX lead-free, high-performance distributed motion controller is used with Adept robots.