Mitsubishi Electric is expanding the range of Melfa robots with new models for environments with a risk of electrical discharge.

In the electronics industry, events related to electrical discharges (ESD) can be very harmful to production and workers. Mitsubishi Electric introduced a new ESD version of the Melfa robot family capable of working in environments with a risk of electrostatic discharge. The law of reference in this area is IEC 61340-5-1, which governs the essential requirements for handling leak-sensitive products. Some of the factors that lead to the development of ESD are operating in the environment and electric field above 100 V/cm, low relative humidity (<20% RH) and low temperature. Furthermore, even large contact areas during handling can lead to the formation of frictional charges (triboelectric charges).

The ESD robot version is ideal for all types of applications involving the manipulation of printed circuits and electronic boards.

Mitsubishi Electric robots with ESD certification have some differences compared to conventional models that allow components to be protected against any sudden leaks that could affect the final product. The ESD version of the robot is ideal for all kinds of applications involving the operation of printed circuits and electronic boards: assembly of PCBs and connectors, inspection of components, testing of boards and cables, installation of electronic components, soldering of electronic boards. These robots also have clean room certificates (Iso Class) issued by the Fraunhofer Institute IPA, the certification body for this type of control. This is a highly requested certification in the electronics industry, where testing is often done in a clean room with forced air circulation to prevent small particles from coming into contact with the product and contaminating it.

Built-in functions

In the electrical market there are very demanding requirements in terms of accuracy, performance and communication. To meet those market needs, the option can be combined Melfa Smart Plus, a card that enables functionality that significantly increases machine accuracy by compensating for the robot’s internal temperature. To support operations that require greater control, the force sensor is available with integrated AI functions that optimize position and speed parameters. The Melfa Smart Plus feature is part of the Maisart brand (Mitsubishi Electric’s AI creates the State of the Art in technology), a specific brand developed by Mitsubishi Electric with the aim of enabling businesses to get the most out of artificial intelligence. More than that, to increase performance, the robot is often associated with a rotary table, in which individual elements are placed that are later collected by the robot when the table rotates. To improve configuration, the Mitsubishi Electric robot controller has a special built-in function that allows you to control up to eight additional axes without using any additional equipment. There are special models that have a cable route deep into the arm – up to the robot arm – thus preventing mechanical interference during operation.

The robots of the Melfa FR Esd family are also available in an integrated version con the Melsec iQ-R modular PLC, which thanks to the Secs/Gem communication protocol (standard protocol in the semiconductor world) it allows better tracking and sharing of collected data. Finally, the CR800’s controller function makes the robotic movement possible with response times of 3.5ms through the use of customized interfaces.