Project: Robot End-Of-Arm (EOA) Tooling Replacement: In addition to engineering & production requests, OCD is often approached by maintenance personnel to either design or revise existing tooling inside production areas. 

Operation: A multi-axis robot is utilized to take apart an assembly and place the individual parts into separate bins for further handling.  One of the EOA tools is a polycarbonate quad-chambered vacuum tool used to remove a silicone gasket from its housing and place it into its designated bin.

Issue: During operation, a crash occurred damaging this vacuum tooling.  The replacement of this part was found to be difficult and too timely from the original manufacturer.

OCD Solution: Given simple design information provided, OCD was able to reverse engineer a 3D model of this part.   Also, from this documentation, it was noted that this part was designed to be 3D printed.  Given its internal cavities, Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) would be difficult given the supports required.  Therefore, in this case, Stereolithography (SLA) resin printing was the best option.  The part was designed, printed and replaced within a couple of days.

Extras: SLA prints can be solid comparable to a molded part.  They also provide a superior & smoother surface finish. 3D Printing – Online CAD