Maintenance-free components ensure 24/7 operation and savings of around 3,000 US dollars per AMR

What was needed: Wear-resistant, maintenance-free bearing technology for a mobile robot for automated loading of the trailer under dusty and fluctuating environmental conditions.

Requirements: High cycle stability, lubrication-free operation, robustness against dust, moisture and high or low temperatures, resistance to impact loads, reliability in 24/7 operation.

Industry: Material handling

Success for the customer: Over USD 3,000 savings per robot, additional 500 – 1,000g lubricant savings per year; no maintenance required; failure-free, precise operation even in damp, dusty and shock loads thanks to plastic bearings made from bar stock, drylin linear guides, igubal flange mounted bearings and PRT slewing ring bearings.

Bastian Solutions is driving forward automation in material handling and, with the ULTRA BLUE, is addressing the particularly labour-intensive and ergonomically demanding task of loading trailers. It is used at loading docks in warehouse and production environments where humidity in summer, frost in winter and constant dust and cardboard abrasion are the order of the day.

These conditions lead to high mechanical demands on all moving assemblies – especially at bearing points: High cycle rates meet short-term load peaks caused by varying box weights, collisions with box edges or unevenness in the trailer.

At the same time, there was a need to increase reliability, reduce downtimes and utilise the existing infrastructure so that existing systems do not have to be expensively and extensively converted. ULTRA BLUE is designed to travel between multiple gates, connect to existing conveyor and sorting systems, and be retrofitted in brownfield and greenfield environments (existing and new systems) without costly infrastructure.

Although classic sealed rolling bearings and ball–profile rail guides were considered as alternatives, they require regular relubrication and in dusty environments are susceptible. The risk of high wear, breakdowns, box contamination and additional maintenance work stood in the way of clean, predictable and round-the-clock operation.

For the demanding operating conditions, Bastian Solutions relies on a combination of different bearing technologies from igus in the ULTRA BLUE:  Plastic bearings made from bar stock, drylin linear technology, igubal flange mounted bearings and PRT slewing ring bearings. These components are self-lubricating and maintenance-free, corrosion-free, low-friction, wear-resistant and insensitive to dust and moisture.

As a result, guides and pivot points remain strong and precise even during high cycles, while impact loads are reliably absorbed in the harsh dock environment. Lubrication-free operation eliminates the risk of contamination on boxes and avoids unplanned downtime due to relubrication intervals.

The economic effects are clear: each robot saves around 500 to 1,000g of lubricant per year. At the same time, the cost of maintenance and spare parts is reduced, as the bearing points are permanently without external lubrication. This saves around 3,000 US dollars per year per AMR. Overall, system availability in 24/7 operation is significantly improved.