New Electric Motor Assembly and Fastening Center to Use Cutting Edge Robotic Technology

A new UK technology and winding center due to open in 2023 plans to use robots to automate motor assembly and find solutions for the toughest challenges facing electric motor manufacturers. The Winding Center of Excellence (WCE) goal is to deliver next generation electric motors for use in many sectors including aerospace and automotive assembly, the robotic technologies, which will be used for winding, assembly and fastening the motor assemblies, including the use of adhesives.

Researchers at the WCE plan to look into other technologies and automated systems to include an automotive system powered by robots which are flexible enough to handle various motor sizes and shapes, reduce the chance of defects, and improve the accuracy, repeatability and reliability of rotor assembly for electric motors.

To achieve this end, the automated system changes the current approach to rotor assembly which currently relies on non-magnetized blanks being inserted into steel laminate rotors and only magnetizing them once the assembly is done and fastened.

The robotic system also collects magnet blanks, moves them to a magnetizing coil before a robot applies adhesives to the coil then inserts them into the rotor slots. The move towards robotics for assembly and adhesive application is becoming the industry standard for efficiency, effectiveness, and quality.

Source: Drives Control