Highly flexible pick & place with digitised pneumatics

The Festo Motion Terminal VTEM is moving pneumatics into the age of Industry 4.0 ‒ with apps that can replace over 50 individual components. Just as the smartphone turned the mobile communication market on its head over a decade ago, so too is the Festo Motion Terminal set to revolutionise automation technology. This new type of function integration – combined with software – simplifies the entire value chain, since only one piece of hardware is now required.

This means that users can execute different tasks with just one valve and operate 16 pressure regulation channels with eight valves. This significantly reduces the amount of work required, from engineering to format change-overs. This is why experts are calling the Festo Motion Terminal VTEM a revolution in automation technology.

Simplifying pick & place applications

With the Motion Terminal VTEM, users can realise all the functions in their pick & place application in just one system. There is no longer a need for components like shock absorbers or flow control valves. Since Motion Apps now take over many tasks and replace complicated mechanical structures, the design process is much easier. The process data can be read out at any time so users can respond quickly to deviations and thus ensure consistent quality.

Positioning using pneumatics

The app “Positioning” gives handling experts flexibility when positioning workpieces of different sizes. They can optimise the end-to-end motions for every possible workpiece size, for example by precisely defining the variables such as the motion speed and impact energy in the end position.

With the Motion App “Positioning”, pneumatic actuators can be freely positioned along the entire working stroke and the cylinder movement can be controlled using limit values for the speed, acceleration and jerk parameters. Gentle positioning is possible for selected series with strokes of up to 300 mm by specifying the limit values.

Pressure and vacuum control

By using the app “Proportional pressure regulation” safe transport with vacuum is ensured. The vacuum level is simply adapted to the weight to be moved. This enables plant manufacturers to also increase the energy efficiency of their application. Changeover times or manual format changes are a thing of the past as users simply switch over to the parameters they need. The virtually vibration-free travel into the end position with the app “Soft Stop” minimises wear – and shortens the cycle times.

Software instead of hardware

Thanks to the fast activation of new functions via Motion Apps, machine developers can create a basic machine type using the Festo Motion Terminal and then select the relevant Motion Apps to equip it with different functions and features as per the customer requirements. The ability to copy and transfer parameter sets makes planning easier and saves time. Assigning functions via software has the added benefit of preventing tampering and protecting know-how, since it’s not possible to tell from the outside which functions the valves are executing.

Maintenance is also simplified, as leaks are automatically monitored and long lists of spare and wearing parts are a thing of the past. With the Motion App “Leakage diagnostics”, malfunctions can be detected and pinpointed to a specific actuator via diagnostic cycles and defined threshold values. This enables predictive maintenance.