FIBO collaborates with Siam Yamato Steel Co., Ltd. to design and build automatic robots and large industrial robotic systems for manufacturing H.I.C resistant steel. Giant robots can lift steel pieces weighed 300 kilograms, 500-2,000 millimeter-long, at 900 degrees Celsius, from a conveyor belt within 10 seconds and get rid of them within 50 seconds, which allows the manufacturing process to operate at its maximum speed and increase the production volume.

In Block Rubber manufacturing, workers need to pull rubbers from blocks by hands. After long working hours, they are exhausted. Our team conducted research, designed, and build a machine to replace human labor. The machine can pull five blocks at the same time and has a vertical and horizontal movement system. Rubbers are quickly put on the belt and delivered to the next station.

Summit Auto Body Industry Co., Ltd. cooperated with FIBO to research and develop an automatic manufacturing technology to design and assembly parts for spot welding, an important process in the automotive industry.

NOK Precision Component (Thailand) Ltd., Thailand’s leading manufacturers of precision parts used in Hard Disk Drive, planned to double their manufacturing volume responding to customers’ demand. Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) built an automation system as a part of Hard Disk Drive’s Parking Ramp manufacturing. Our scope of work is as follows:

1. To study and design the system flowchart
2. To design the structure and mechanism of the system
3. To design control and user communication systems

To supervise the manufacturing process, assembly, and test the system

Minebea (Thailand) Co., Ltd., a leading global manufacturer of high precision electrical components for the computer hardware industry, sees the importance of analyzing the results of a ball bearing assessment to determine the capacity of manufacturing processes. The company cooperated with FIBO to read and analyze four levels of torque: max, min, average, and peak-to-peak that are received from the wave comparator. The results point out flaws in the manufacturing processes. The project is divided into two phases. Phase I is to connect with the wave comparator and design the network of 150 comparators. Then the data is transferred to the central server. Phase II is to design and build a statistical software to analyze the data.

The project covers the design and prototype construction for a semi-automatic assembly line for HSA. The design focuses on grouping equipment used in the former work environment as modules with belts to deliver products to each station of the HSA manufacturing line. A machine for each station is designed as a generic cell that is easy for maintenance. This is the collaborative project by WD, NECTEC, FIBO, and 4 Thai SMEs under the name Thai-Alliance.

Objectives are as follows:

For WD, this project aims to develop the knowledge of robot and automation construction covering the whole HSA manufacturing processes for 2.5 Inch Hard disk and it can be adapted to cater to future products.

For NECTEC, this project supports Thailand’s industry as it develops people’s knowledge of high precision components.  Employees can exchange ideas and take part in research and development. This group of people will have an important role in the company’s research and product development. The knowledge of Hard Disk manufacturing will be shared among scholars and engineers in Thailand and abroad, from the educational institute to the industry.

For university, this project is an opportunity to develop people’s skills, knowledge, and understanding of high precision components and program writing to control machines.

For SMEs, this project is another step towards Thailand’s industrial advancement.

Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute (Public Organization) or HAII wants to examine dust in the air to gain in-depth data for meteorological purposes by using dust collectors on a high tower. Dust collectors need to be delivered to the ground for urban weather analysis. However, the process of transporting dust collectors from towers to the ground and vice versa is quite dangerous for workers and the equipment. Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) adapted the existing vertical transport system to serve this propose. It works like an elevator and allows staff to work more conveniently and safely and deliver dust samples for weather analysis faster.

Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) has developed the AGV Prototype’s Mobile Platform to be implemented in industrial production processes. The project is to develop the basic moving base mechanism for the AGV prototype to deliver parts in a factory with a closed environment, navigation software, and motion control systems that allow AGV to navigate to various stations along the production line.

Aeroflex Co., Ltd. requires workers with relatively high skill to cut pipe supports, and currently, those workers with such skills are hard to find. Thus, the company wants to develop and implement an automatic machine. The institute conducted the research and design the automatic system to cut pipe supports that is not only accurate but also flexible for different shapes and sizes. The company wants a more user-friendly system to increase the manufacturing volumes and to control the quality of products more easily.

Unicord Public Co., Ltd. wants to improve the manufacturing process to increase efficiency and reduce the number of workers to solve a shortage of skilled workers, reduce mistakes, and save costs.  Arranging canned foods on a conveyer belt is one of many jobs that still need workers as the cost of robotic development is too high to invest.

Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO), who specializes in robotics and automation, recognized the problem and designed the system to arrange canned foods with fewer big robot arms. A mechanism to transport and arrange canned foods was developed. It is effective and worth investing more as it costs lower than the systems imported from overseas or systems using only robots.

King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi collaborates with CPF Thailand to increase the efficiency of manufacturing processes.  Institute of Field Robotics (FIBO) was assigned to develop an automated system that reduces the number of workers, time, and costs and increases the company’s capacity to compete in the industry.