TAIPEI, Taiwan - Sanitary equipment manufacturer Hocheng Corporation (HCG) announced the introduction of Industrial Technology Research Institute’s (ITRI) second-generation cyber-physical system (CPS) grinding and polishing robot technology along with the establishment of a second CPS production line. In contrast to the first generation, following the introduction of the second generation, the entire line has the capacity to make use of virtual reality and machine vision for zero dead angles in robot grinding movements. Furthermore, the machine tuning time has been reduced from what was originally one day to just one hour.
ITRI Executive Vice President Pei-Zen Chang stated that in the domestic water hardware industry, it is difficult to introduce automated equipment to the complex exteriors of faucets. However, the CPS grinding and polishing robot developed by ITRI directly solves this problem. Moreover, what was originally “large quantities with little diversity” has been upgraded to “high diversity in low quantities” via the second-generation CPS grinding and polishing robot technology, and it has been introduced into the highly profitable smart manufacturing model.
HCG General Manager Chen Zhen-qian pointed out that the faucet polishing coverage was only 80% for the older models of complete lines; nevertheless, with the introduction of the CPS grinding and polishing robot, the coverage rate has surpassed 90%. As a result of the introduction of the second-generation CPS grinding and polishing robot, the coverage rate for faucet grinding will reach 100%, reducing costs by 20%.
ITRI Mechanical and Mechatronics Systems Research Laboratories Vice President and General Director Jwu-Sheng Hu explained that as a result of increased online software composition, machine vision, and compound grinding and polishing equipment software, the adjustment time for the grinding path can be shortened, which effectively increases HCG’s faucet production capacity by 15%. In addition, compound grinding and polishing equipment hardware together with corresponding dynamic computing software facilitates zero dead angle grinding and the perfect grinding of complex parts.