Building for Automation: A Fully Integrated Robotic Workholding System

Adding a robot to a machine cell is the easy part.

Building the workholding system that makes the robot productive, repeatable, and reliable is where the real engineering happens.

This Fixture Friday build is headed into an automation cell designed for robotic loading. Every major component was selected and integrated around one goal: a system that can locate, clamp, machine, and release parts with minimal operator involvement.

Here’s how it works:

The Workholding Foundation

The fixture is built around SCHUNK KSP3 vises mounted to custom adapter plates, which then interface with a SCHUNK VERO-S zero-point system.

That layered approach — vise to adapter plate to zero-point — gives the customer flexibility that a fixed fixture plate would not. If the part geometry changes, or the cell needs to run a different family of parts, the vise layout can be adjusted without rebuilding the entire workholding system from scratch.

The VERO-S zero-point system provides the repeatable foundation. It accurately locates the fixture assembly and allows it to be removed, replaced, or reconfigured while maintaining repeatability.

The Rotary Union: Where the Integration Happens

The most technically involved part of this build is the 8-port DSTI rotary union.

Each port is routed through the rotary axis and tied into a specific workholding function. Instead of manually connecting lines or relying on an operator to actuate the system, the machine control can manage the workholding directly through the program.

Four ports are used for vise actuation. The machine can open and close the SCHUNK KSP3 vises in sequence with the robot’s loading and unloading cycle. The robot presents the part, the vises clamp, the machine runs the cycle, and the vises release when machining is complete.

The remaining four ports are used for the VERO-S zero-point system. Two ports control the release function, allowing the fixture assembly to be unclamped from the zero-point modules when it needs to be removed or changed over. The other two ports support the turbo function, providing additional clamping force when the application requires it.

The result is a workholding system where the major clamping and locating functions are integrated through the machine, controlled by the program, and repeatable from cycle to cycle.

What This Looks Like in Practice

In production, the robot loads the part into the fixture. The machine control actuates the vises. The part is clamped, the spindle starts cutting, and the cycle runs.

When machining is complete, the control releases the vises, the robot unloads the finished part, and the next cycle begins.

For changeover or fixture removal, the VERO-S system can be released through the rotary union as well, allowing the fixture assembly to be removed from the zero-point modules without tearing apart the entire setup.

Interested in a Similar Build?

If your shop is moving toward automation and you are trying to figure out the workholding side of it, we are happy to walk through your application.

Visit us at trunniontable.com.