Elevator supplier Schindler uses ABB robot

2021: ABB Industrial Robot Pilot

The Schindler company, a supplier of elevators and escalators, launched a pilot project of an automated, independently operating robotic system involved in the installation of elevators. At the heart of this decision. industrial robot ABB ABB announced this on October 13, 2021.

To install the elevator in the shaft, anchor bolts, a lot of anchor bolts are needed. Guides of rails and process hatches are attached using them. The higher the building, the more bolts you need.

Drilling holes for anchor bolts in the concrete shaft of the elevator - painstaking, repetitive and physically exhausting work. For its safe and high-quality execution, high accuracy and full concentration are necessary, "explained Christian Studer, head of new technology at Schindler. - To install an elevator in a multi-storey building you need hundreds of holes for anchor bolts. The mine is noisy and dusty, and the work requires a lot of effort.

The pilot project was launched by the company in collaboration with the Swiss Higher Technical School of Zurich (ETH Zurich) and software experts of the Robotics division of ABB in Switzerland.

The main task of the robot is to drill holes and install anchor bolts in the elevator shafts. But the robot embodies much more. The solution includes an autonomous installation system that independently moves from floor to floor using an automatic lift - no one has ever done this before.

An additional design challenge was the complexity we encountered in programming a robot to drill holes sequentially with the same coordinates up to a millimeter. The robot moves from one position to another in the elevator shaft and must constantly dynamically adapt the coordinates of the points for drilling, "explained Christian Studer.

In principle, the coordinates of the drill points are predefined. But before starting, the robot scans the wall of the shaft to determine whether there is a hidden rebar under it or the concrete surface has irregularities. To calculate tolerances, the robotic system uses an algorithm and moves holes if necessary.

In the process of selecting a suitable robot, the project team faced difficulties. In the end, she stopped at the ABB IRB 2600.

With a range of 1.65 m and a payload of 29 kg, he coped well with this task. In addition, ABB's durable industrial robots are famous for their reliability when working in difficult conditions, which is especially important with such applications, "said Christian Studer.

An industrial robot is usually installed on a foundation in a factory, and it executes its program relative to its zero position in space. In the prototype "Robotic Installation System for Elevators," the IRB 2600 robot is installed on a platform that the temporary lift moves up and down the elevator shaft.

In such three-dimensional space, the robot was unable to reset to a new zero position under each drilling point. Therefore, we had to outwit the controller to some extent in order to ensure that the robot manipulator is accurately positioned each time according to the coordinates of the point for the hole, "said Christian Studer.

The sensors of the system check whether the hole is drilled in the desired place, after which the robot clogs the anchor bolt and moves to the next drilling points. This happens again and again in fully automatic mode.

Although a remote surveillance camera is installed on the platform, and all data related to hole drilling is documented, the system operates autonomously. Monitoring and control of the system does not require an operator, "explained Christian Studer.

Thus, it can simply be installed in the elevator shaft, where it will work autonomously around the clock until all anchor bolts are installed.

The prototype proved its effectiveness in installing several elevator systems in Europe.