ERNE Portalroboter - Gantry Robot

Описание: The start-up of the gantry robot at ERNE AG Holzbau rings in the future of timber construction. The opportunities that are now opening up in terms of modern timber construction for architects, clients and planners are individual, multi-faceted, highly precise and come in many different shapes.
Architects and designers can contribute their creativity and design expertise by applying digital models and engineering know-how. New forms, new shapes of yet unknown quality can be developed within short deadlines.
While former processing machines were limited to subtraction procedures, i.e. to removing something from an existing body, this new system is using additive processes; the robot assembles bodies. The assembly includes supporting structure, walls and roofs, facades and even concrete formwork up to 50 m long, 1.4 m high and 5.6 m wide. This is possible thanks to the wide choice of tools the modern tool-head taken on from the automotive industry is able to handle.

The gantry robot
ERNE AG Holzbau installed a gantry robot at a cost of 4 million Swiss Francs at its plant in Stein, Switzerland. The robot is one of Europe’s largest portal robot systems.
It was produced by Güdel AG in Langenthal, Switzerland and developed together with ERNE to fine tune it to the requirements of timber construction.

The system is 50 m long. It can handle work pieces up to a 48 m long, 5.6 m wide and 1.4 m high. Six and/or seven operational axes account for the outstanding nimbleness of this robot. It can saw, mill, screw, nail, lift, glue, weld, clinch, grab and more. It opens up a wealth of new opportunities and is stirring great interest among architects and engineers. You could compare it to an oversized 3D printer.
The system was installed last autumn and has been in operation since early 2015. Currently the roof of the Institute for Technology in Architecture of ETH Zurich is being built. The structure consists of more than 45,000 single elements that are being woven together to a free-form timber roof. The system optimizes timber consumption and the work cycles. Without the robot, the construction of a girderwould take more than 60 hours. Planning efforts, by the way, are small as ETH digitalized all the data.

The gantry robot rings in a new era for ERNE. While in the past purely manual or partially automated work cycles were the basis of production, in future it will be the interaction in the system of relations between man and machine. A whole new dimension. It is actually possible to work on a work piece by hand while the robot – controlled by sensors – supports the work. It is only by this means that it is possible to produce diverse, complex structures from simple, customary material while keeping within realistic cost and time frames.
Before the production of the component begins, a thoroughly digitalized approach to planning (Building Information Management – BIM) is used to create a three-dimensional model from the first idea to realization. The integration of engineering know-how and experience from timber construction complement each other.

Unser 7-achsigen Roboter ist nicht nur einer der grössten und leistungsfähigsten Anlagen in Europa, sondern eröffnet durch seine wegweisende 3D-Technologie völlig neue Wege beim Bauen mit Holz. Der Einklang unseres Engineerings und neuster Robotiktechnologie bilden den Auftakt für einen massgebenden Innovationsschritt bei der Herstellung von industriell vorgefertigten und komplexen Bauelementen und öffnen ein fast unbegrenztes Potential.