Walk through almost any automated plant and the eye goes straight to the robots, the conveyors and the vision cameras blinking above the line.
Very few visitors look up at the pipes running along the ceiling, yet a large share of the motion on that floor depends on what travels through them.
Pneumatic cylinders push parts into position and vacuum cups lift cartons off the belt, all powered by air that was compressed in a back room and sent across the building. When that air arrives at the wrong pressure or in the wrong condition, the most sophisticated cell on the floor starts behaving like a cheap one. [Read more…] about The Air Behind the Robot: Why Compressed Air Piping Decides How Well an Automated Line Runs