OPTIMIZING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE INDUSTRIAL ROBOT CTFLEX IN PACKAGING AUTOMATION SYSTEMS

This experimental Ph.D. research, developed within the CT Pack company, manufacturer of machines and plants for food packaging, aims at improving the performance (i.e. in terms of products per minute) of the operations of picking and placing of products in a packaging line. In particular, the objective is to develop a new Delta robot, fully realized inside the company, with unique mechanical features in terms of payload capacity with using the latest technologies for industrial automation and control. This research illustrates the development of a novel parallel Delta robot. The kinematic structure known as Delta robot is one of the most important inventions in the industrial machinery sector, mainly used in the packaging industry. The robot specifically developed in CT Pack Company is called CTFLEX. Its development consists of choosing the proper control hardware and creating the programming software to configure new characteristics as mechanically performed; the software has been chosen to be the same used in PLC controllers of the machines, obtaining a robot well integrated into the same line. This research will further demonstrate the uses of this robot, the steps during software development and the optimization of its performance