THE VERSABUILT STORY

The VersaBuilt Robotics was born out of the CNC production facility of Rekluse Motor Sports. Rekluse is a leading manufacturer of aftermarket motorcycle clutches. Being successful in the aftermarket motorcycle clutch business requires making many different part numbers in small quantities, with large swings in volume due to seasonal demand. Recognizing that CNC operator labor was a constraint for the business, Rekluse management made the decision to pursue robotic CNC automation.

Working with a local robotics integrator, and starting with traditional robot grippers and CNC vises, the team was soon struggling. Trying to integrate the dozens of diverse part shapes that were candidates for robotic automation was proving to be more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive than anticipated.

One day, after a frustrating round of failures, one of the engineers asked, “Why can’t the robot and CNC vise use the same jaws?” After a round of glances with raised eyebrows, the discussion quickly moved to a whiteboard brainstorming session. The team recognized that if they could make a jaw system that was shared by both the robot and the CNC, they could truly generalize the integration of almost any part shape for automation.