Festo electric drive technology has been chosen by Mondelez for a new automated chocolate Easter egg mixing installation which uses a system of conveyors to ensure that each pack features a mix of flavours. Electric drives were chosen over pneumatics because they offer lower energy consumption, higher safety and more flexibility in controlling speeds and positions. Once individually packed, the eggs go via conveyor belt to the new plant where they are sorted into large pallet bins by flavour. These trays are then prepared via a robot either for mixing or to be picked up by a mobile robot for temporary storage. Once all the necessary flavours for making a mix are ready, the eggs are transported via funnels to precise positions on a wide conveyor so that all the flavours are lined up next to each other. At the end, the eggs re-enter a pallet bin where the different flavours are perfectly mixed. The first challenge was to ensure that the eggs are neatly distributed when filling the pallet bins; the second challenge was positioning the hoppers over the conveyor on which the mix is assembled. Finally, a suitable drive had to be found for the gripper on the robot, which moves the 150kg pallet bins.
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