Robot Technology in the Woodworking Industry

This report covers the application potential for robots in the woodworking industry. Industrial robots have been available for flexible automation of the manufacturing process for more than seventeen years now. But though in the automotive and in the household appliances industry, as well as in the electrical engineering sector, good growth rates could be achieved by using robots, the number of industrial robots used in the woodworking industry is still very low. Only in the early 90's the woodworking industry has hesitantly begun to introduce this technology. It is true that in the past there has partly been a lack of low-budget but performing industrial robots, but meanwhile a wide choice of good, appropriate and not very expensive industrial robots is available. Using robots in a sensible manner in the woodworking industry is a step towards ensuring the competitiveness of this industry. With regard to the ever tougher competitive pressure this step is absolutely necessary. This arti cle describes possible potentials for utilization of industrial robots by the woodworking industry, and two applications developed at IPA are described in detail. Finally, an outlook over the future application fields of robot technology in the woodworking industry is given.