Far-UK Participated in RoboMade, Concludes with Success

Far-UK Ltd. participated in the Innovate UK research program RoboMade, Digitally Enabled Ultrasonic Assisted Robotic Machining, which has now reached its conclusion after running for thirty months. The company has gained valuable learning from the research surrounding the use of robotics for the highly accurate machining of composites, and plans to integrate this into its future projects. Kevin Lindsey, Co-Director at Far-UK, comments "We recognize the importance of robots in manufacturing, especially where composites are concerned. That's why we have invested in multiple robots, and we are already using them in further R&D projects as well as in some commercial applications for automated manufacture". Far-UK’s role in the project was to act as an end user by demonstrating drilling on an automotive front subframe which contained a composite component. Drilling strong materials like composites with a standard spindle can require forces so great that the robot can actually be pushed off its path, so an ultrasonic drill tip was used to reduce the forces needed. The outcome was successful, and the holes were drilled with high precision using a Kuka robot.