Made4CNC Safedoor works with cobots to automate CNC tending

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Made 4 CNC door opener — Made4CNC launches the first product, an automatic door opener for any CNC machine. | Image credit: Made4CNC

Danish company Made4CNC launched an automated door opener for CNC machines. The device can be integrated with any robot model. The company claims the system enables 100% autonomy for machine tending operations.

Made4CNC’s first official product, the new Safedoor SD100, removes the barriers to the automation of component feeding at machine shops. Safedoor SD100 opens CNC doors that are up to 1 meter wide and weigh 400 kg, at a speed of 500 mm/s. The door opener can connect to any robot and CNC machine model via galvanic insulated digital inputs and outputs.

The team behind Made4CNC are industry veterans Thomas Visti (former CCO of Universal Robots and CEO of Mobile Industrial Robots), Lasse Kieffer (Global Technical Compliance Officer at Universal Robots and founder of Purple Robotics) and Peter Nadolny (CTO and co-founder of Purple Robotics). This group of accomplished entrepreneurs brings a vast pool of experience and knowledge to Made4CNC.

group shot of the Made4CNC founders. — Made4CNC founders (from left) Peter Nadolny, Thomas Visti, and Lasse Kieffer. | Image credit: Made4CNC

This first product from Made4CNC fills a much-needed niche in the automation market, it claims, and could be adopted by a large market segment of CNC users. Currently, most CNC machines have manual doors and require the human operator to open and close the CNC door between operations. This is inefficient and uneconomical for the ROI of the robot.

Many systems integrators often build custom, one-off door opening solutions when deploying a collaborative robot into a CNC machine tending applications. The goal of Made4CNC is to offer a standard, off-the-shelf, supported solution to automate the CNC door opening operation. Made4CNC’s fully electric Safedoor SD100 features built-in safety functions that enable the integrator to adjust the speed of the CNC door, making risk assessments easier to conduct.

illustration of the Made4CNC Safedoor — Made4CNC Safedoor SD100 is all electric. | Image credit: Made4CNC

Made4CNC is offering Safedoor in two product configurations, depending on whether the CNC has one or two doors. The basic package includes a single door actuator, a control unit and an operator panel. The two-door package adds a second actuator.

“Around the world the need for faster and greater automation is a major trend, and for it to succeed, less time must be spent on each installation,” said Peter Nadolny Madsen, CEO at Made4CNC. “With the SD100, we have integrated safety and robustness in a user-friendly solution, which we believe is the key to optimal productivity,” he said, adding that integration of collaborative robots or light industrial robots together with existing CNC machines makes a lot of sense, since the automation of existing machines generate low risk and a short payback period for the customer.

Integrator Nordelektro has installed two Made4CNC Safedoor SD100 door opening solutions at Randers Tandhjulsfabrik. “It took less than an hour for each CNC machine and they are good and stable door openers,” reported Lars Bo Nielsen, factory manager at Randers Tandhjulsfabrik. For Nordelektro, it makes a huge difference that they can provide customers with a standardized solution designed as a solution-in-a-box:

“Safedoor SD100 is a complete solution, which makes it simpler to work with automation,” said Jesper Storm Simonsen, sales manager at Nordelektro. “It is a huge advantage for us as an integrator. We don’t need to invent something complicated and expensive. We have minimum project risk.”

Made4CNC just entered into agreement with its first American distributor, Thinkbot Solutions.

“Safedoor SD100 makes having a job as a machine feeder much more pleasant and easy-going, while the employer will be able to optimize and get a better work flow,” said President of Thinkbot Solutions, Philip Courtois. “Others have tried unsuccessfully to develop a user-friendly door opener. Made4CNC has completely succeeded. I have chosen to distribute SD100 because attention is given to all of the details in terms of the mechanics, software and safety,” he stated, adding that SD100 is certified by the world’s most popular collaborative robot company Universal Robots (UR). “The UR+ certification ensures completely seamless integration with robots from Universal Robots. All operation can be done through the robot’s teach pendant.”

You can also listen to The Robot Report Podcast, Episode 13 (August 2020), where we talk to Thomas Visti about his future plans, after leaving the leadership role at Mobile Industrial Robotics.