Comau achieved a quantum step forward in digital-enabled solutions for lightweight and electric vehicle manufacturing with Smart Hemmer, its new robotic roller hemming process.
Fast, flexible and extremely precise, Smart Hemmer is a highly compact, symmetrical roller hemmer able to hem any complex joint. It is the perfect solution for the new generation of electric, hybrid and traditional lightweight vehicles as it is designed to allow automakers to join dissimilar materials using a cold process that grants complete control throughout the process.
Smart Hemmer addresses the dual market requirements of increased efficiency and accuracy. Its innovative design features two flexible rollers in which the linear roller can automatically disengage when encountering obstacles or a curved path and avoids the costly and inflexible fixed anvil, apparent in all traditional roller hemming processes. As a result, Smart Hemmer can perform curved path hemming and manage complex angles as part of a single, continuous process. The system is also able to maintain a constant hemming thickness even when encountering multiple layers of dissimilar materials.
The result is an Industry 4.0-compliant hemming head, jointly developed by Comau and a world-class automotive manufacturer, offering high reliability, inherent flexibility and full in-process monitoring of the joint, while ensuring the geometric uniformity of the assembled parts. Field-tested and validated by major European automakers, Smart Hemmer is a standardized product that can be applied to all vehicle architectures and compliments the complete array of similar technologies developed by Comau in the cold joining environment.