ToolConnect RFID Automating the Tool Load Process on a Fanuc Robodrill at Wolfram Manufacturing

See how Wolfram Manufacturing is using the RFID ToolConnect System to reduce setup time and eliminate error by automating the process of loading CNC tools into the machine.

Wolfram has implemented ToolConnect on their Fanuc Robodrill with tools preset at an Omega Presetter. See this and other smart manufacturing solutions on-site at the Wolfram and Caron Engineering Texas Production Technology Center. https://wolframmfg.com/about/ptc/

Full Video Transcript

Hi there. I’m Chris from Wolfram Manufacturing, and I’m here today to tell you a little bit about ToolConnect, a tool management system from Caron Engineering. We use the ToolConnect system here on our Robodrill. It allows us to eliminate operator data entry errors that can come along with tool setting and manually inputting information, and it also allows us to keep track of all the tool life data on all of our tools through RFID technology. 

Let me show you how it works here in our shop. Now we’re over here at our Omega pre-setter. We use the Omega pre-setter to set all of our tools offline, and the data from the Omega presetter gets put directly onto the RFID chip right here at the cell. Okay, now we have set all of our tools at the Omega presetter, and the presetter has written all of that information directly onto the RFID chip on the tool, and we install the tool back into each of the tool pots for each of the tools.  ToolConnect is now going to automatically read the RFID chip when it reaches the RFID reader. I’ve loaded Tool 12 and Tool 13 into the machine, so when I cycle start the machine and I do a tool change we can see that all of the information transfers from ToolConnect and pushes the new values, that one for Tool 13, and then when we do a tool chain to Tool 12, we see the information for Tool 12 update, and the operator doesn’t have to input any information. We can see the values show up that are going directly to the RFID tag on the tool over here. So that’s the ToolConnect system and you can see how ToolConnect automates the entire process, and that enables us to eliminate operator errors when pushing information directly into the CNC. It allows us to track tool life and keep that tool life with the tool. 

[Music]