ABB's Single-Handed YuMi Robot Accelerates Prototype Assembly at GE Healthcare

2021: Selection of ABB collaboration solution for production line

On September 30, 2021, ABB announced that GE Healthcare had selected a single-handed YuMi robot from ABB for its production line. A collaborative robot can quickly and easily cope with the task of assembling, which would be extremely difficult in terms of ergonomics for a person.

Kobota was installed on the prototype assembly line at GE Healthcare in Helsinki.

GE Healthcare is a global developer of medical technologies, diagnostic tools and digital solutions with more than 100 years of experience in the industry health care. The company employs about 50,000  employees worldwide.  Vfinland is home to one of GE Healthcare's centers to develop solutions for patient surveillance. Among the equipment produced at the company  in Helsinki, patient monitors, anesthesiological gas measurement modules used in VIA devices and anesthesia delivery solutions. Most of the plant's products are exported around the world.

One of GE Healthcare's build lines produces prototypes of solutions that are under development. At the end of September 2021, the line is working on a major project to develop a device, one of the elements of which is a component of the battery of an improved sensor, changes in the design of which need to be made  as soon as possible.

"We needed to add a glue step to the build process, which was difficult to perform manually. Using a cobot has become a way to automate this task, and we were able to quickly program it to build a prototype, " tells Teemu Äärynen, head of the advanced development program at GE Healthcare in Finland.

On the production line, the cobot is YuMi responsible for applying a strip of glue when assembling components. The kobot takes the workpiece from the assembly fixture, applies glue  using an external dispenser and puts the product back. A long strip of glue should very accurately repeat the shape of the matchbox-sized part in three dimensions. Given that the glue is quickly set, such a task is quite difficult to perform manually.

ABB's single-handed cobot YuMi (IRB 14050) is a version of the two-manipulator cobot YuMi (IRB 14000) introduced in 2015. The compact seven-axis cobot weighs 9.5 kg, it can be installed at any angle. The robot is specially designed for the needs of assembling small parts, including consumer electronics and consumer goods. The easily programmable robot is designed to  work safely side by side with people and helps facilitate the transition to robotics, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

GE Healthcare already uses a coboat YuMi with two manipulators to perform other instrument assembly tasks, so the decision to create a new coboat site was easy. The robotization solution was developed by the Finnish company Roboco, which specializes in automating processes using cobots.

"Installing a single-manipulator YuMi at GE Healthcare is an example of the capabilities of cobot technology. The solution for performing the working stage by the robot, which cannot be done manually, can be developed very quickly, later the robot can be easily used to solve other problems, " notes Oskari Hakaluoto, CEO of Roboco.

Roboco is a member of the ABB Value Provider Partner Program.

"In addition  to our own expertise, ABB has a network of professional partners who can work with us and the end customer to develop flexible collaborative solutions that meet production needs. The solution that Roboco developed for GE Healthcare is one of the first examples of the use of  a single-manipulator cobot in Finland. In fact, this cobot works as an additional employee on the assembly line, "- notes Juha Mainio, product manager at ABB.

According to forecasts, cobots will not replace traditional industrial robots, which still have their own clear areas of application. But cobots offer great opportunities to automate tasks and processes that cannot be realized with traditional solutions.

The GE Healthcare solution is approaching the stage of mass production, and a single manipulator YuMi cobot is regularly used on the production line.

"Cobota is easy enough to reprogram when we need to make any updates to the solution or production process. We can make some major code changes in just half an hour. The rapid implementation and flexibility of the solution have contributed significantly to  the development of our instrument, " tells Teemu Eerinen of GE Healthcare.

According to Teemu Eerinen, employees highly appreciate the ability of a single-handed YuMi to work together.

For GE Healthcare, cobots have become an excellent investment.

"Cobot can not only automate the stage of work that a person cannot perform, but he will also save the time of our employees to solve other problems. This improves the performance of our build and is reflected to our end customers  in the cost of our solution. The payback period of these investments was surprisingly short, less than one year, "- summarizes Teemu Eerinen.