Utilizing cable winding and industrial robots to facilitate the manufacturing of electric machines

Abstract

Cable wound electric machines are used mainly for high voltage and direct-drive applications. They can be found in areas such as wind power, hydropower, wave power and high-voltage motors. Compared to conventional winding techniques, cable winding includes fewer manufacturing steps and is therefore likely to be better suited for automated production. Automation of the cable winding production step is a crucial task in order to lower the manufacturing costs of these machines. This article presents a production method using industrial robots for automation of cable winding of electric machine stators. The concept presented is validated through computer simulations and full-scale winding experiments, including a constructed robot-held cable feeder tool prototype. A cable wound linear stator section of an Uppsala University Wave Energy Converter and its winding process is used as a reference in this article. From this example, it is shown that considerable production cycle time and manufacturing cost savings can be anticipated compared to manual winding. The suggested automation method is very flexible. It can be used for the production of cable wound stators with different shapes and sizes, for different cable dimensions and with different winding patterns. ► Utilizing cable winding in stators is likely to facilitate automated assembling. ► A robot automated manufacturing method for cable winding is presented. ► Computer simulations and prototype experiments validate the automation method. ► An Uppsala University Wave Energy Converter cable wound stator is used as reference. ► Automation method can be used for different stator designs and winding patterns.