b'can deliver coolant to wash trouble- tomate machining operations. Theing and what you do may look a lot some chips out of the machine. robots also can make it easier fordifferent three years from now than it Unlike Armroid, Okuma Ameri- shops to adjust to whatever circum- does today, Anderson said, youve cas other new automation robot,stances the future may bring. got an automation system that can Standroid, is made by a third-partyIf your work is going to be chang- be adapted as your work evolves. CTEsupplier and located in an enclo-sure outside a machine. Standroid equipment comes in a compact au-tomated cell package that includes everything needed to build and implement an automation package without the assistance of system integrators, according to Okuma America.Although it loads and unloads a machine from the outside like a conventional robot, Standroid uses the same AI programming technol-ogy as Armroid to teach itself how to move around in a machine envi-ronment without collisions. So far, Anderson said, Standroid has been used with mills, mainly handling bigger, heavier parts than those handled by Armroid, which typicallyDoes your 5-Axis CNC Tool & Cutter Grinder is used with lathes. Check The List?While automation has been used at high-volume shops for years,A small footprint to large grind zone ratiomost shops have considered it ill- Fast and thorough service response for years of worry free usesuited for their typical high-mix,Automation solutions that are easy for the user to programlow-volume work, he said.They think, We do small batches,Not just another machine, a customer centric solutionand were constantly changing over,Designed, manufactured, and serviced in the USAso we cant automate that, Ander-son said.He said in addition to easier inte-gration and programming, Armroid and Standroid offer the flexibility that shops need to successfully au-about the authorRobot gripper: capable of holding tools from 5 toPart flipping capability during tool production to 32mm in diameter bring solutions for complete toolsWilliam Leventon is a contributingFor more information or to request a quote, give Star a call or visit our website:writer for CTE. Contact him at 609-926-6447www.starcutter.com 248-474-8200or wleventon@gmail.com.ctemag.com/cteguide.com17MachineTech.indd 17 4/16/20 12:38 PM'