The Cavanna Cartesio Model G35EFC robotic cartoning system integrates the forming, filling, and sealing of cartons in a single 16’ x 6’ x 6’ frame. The system is driven by a total of 16 servo motors and a single PacDrive C600 automation controller. According to Alessandra Cavanna, managing director for marketing at Cavanna, a traditional mechanical machine would never have been able to deliver the fluidity and accuracy this robotic concept requires.

Fed by a 600 piece/min flow wrapper, the G35EFC is perhaps most impressive for its synchronicity. Each articulated robotic arm uses three servo motors. The other seven servos are responsible for tightly synchronizing an infeed belt, an oscillator device, a dual-belt racetrack collator, and a flighted carton infeed conveyor with the motions of all three robotic arms.

“Robotic kinematics” is what it’s called, and object-oriented or modular software that conforms to the IEC 61131-3 standard plays a key role in making it work in this application.

The robotic software object is part of ELAU’s software library of IEC-61131-3 conforming Function Blocks. ELAU supports all of the IEC programming languages, allowing them to be used together to their best advantage in the application program.

PacDrive’s hardware architecture also plays a key role. It’s based on an embedded Pentium M processor that can handle mathematical computations, file handling, and the sophisticated software structures available in ELAU’s software library.

With the introduction of the G35EFC, Cavanna brings a new level of modularity to its packaging automation strategy.

By Pat Reynolds, Editor, Packaging World