Automated assembly of industrial transformer cores utilizing vision-guided robotic system

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Transformers are comprised of a stacked core, which is made up of laminations of thin silicone steel. The process**of arranging such laminations into the core shape is a labour-intensive process, that slows down the overall**production rate, and gives rise to quality problems.**Rex Power Magnetics (Rex) is seeking a process improvement within a specific step of transformer assembly. As**competitive pressures mount, rapid and flexible production becomes more and more of a pressing requirement for**Canadian manufacturers to embrace. Furthermore, with efforts to improve environmental efficiencies of**transformers, the required core assembly becomes more complex and time consuming, as high-efficiency cores**have a special design that is more labour-intensive to assemble.**Through this proposal, the applied research team at Sheridan Colleges Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and**Design Technologies (CAMDT) in Brampton, Ontario seeks to initiate a long-term partnership with Rex. The**objective is to design and fabricate a robotic system to be used for assembling the core sheets of a transformer.**Further, the research aims to employ a vision system to analyze the cores geometry, plan out a pattern, and use**the robots end effector to stack the sheets according to the pattern. The vision system will also be used for**quality inspection. Finally, the project team will test the system for accuracy and repeatability to ensure viability**in a mass production setting.