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Machine Pilot

By The Way Automation

Drawing in.Robot cell out.

Machine Pilot is the planner we are building to take your part from a drawing to a running robot cell: unfold, bend plan, cell fit, robot program, simulation. Every part we run makes the next answer better.

Send us one part What it cannot do yet

A FANUC Authorized System Integrator. Any brand of press brake you already own.

39 seconds, no sound

Watch a part go from drawing to cell.

Every shot is tagged in the corner: real, simulated, concept render or illustration.

How it works

Six stations. One part through all of them.

  1. Your file

    Drawing in

    A 3D STEP model, or a drawing with every bend angle. If something is missing, we tell you exactly what to send.

  2. Planned

    Unfold and bend plan

    Bend order, tooling, backgauge and angles, laid out and ready to check.

  3. Sized

    Cell fit

    Which robot and which gripper fit your part, sized around the brake you already own.

  4. Programmed

    Robot program

    Written for your part, checked in simulation, and reviewed by a person before any use.

  5. Simulated

    Simulation

    Your part run on our demonstration cell. A first look, labelled as one, not your machine.

  6. Learning

    The run library

    Every part we run is kept and makes the next answer better. Your part is never used outside your pack without your permission.

Simulated

See it run before anything is built.

A simulation is a first look, and we label it every time. It shows the part, the grip and the bend on our demonstration cell, so you can judge the idea before anyone cuts steel.

Simulated
A simulation: a robot wrist carries a part into press brake tooling
Riding the robot wrist into the tooling.
Simulated
A simulation: low along a press brake bed through the first bend
Along the bed, through the first bend.
Real TWA cell
A yellow FANUC robot handles sheet metal blanks inside a red guarded cell beside a press brake

Real

And this one is not a simulation.

A press brake tending cell we built for Thunder Creek Equipment, running on their floor. FANUC America published a case study on it. The plan starts on a screen. It ends here.

Read the study

After it runs

We move data, not just parts.

Once a cell is on your floor, Machine Pilot reports what it is doing through a read-only monitor. You look at it instead of looking for it.

Cycle times

Every part, timed. A slow cycle shows up the day it starts.

Part counts

Counted at the cell as they come off. Nobody walks out with a clipboard.

Uptime

Running or stopped, and for how long. The stops are where the next fix is.

The bars are a picture of the idea, not data.

Straight answer

What it cannot do yet.

  • It cannot plan a drawing with no bend notes. A flat pattern alone is not enough yet.
  • A simulation is a first look on our demonstration cell, not your machine.
  • Programs are checked in simulation only, and a person reviews them before any use. It is never a safety sign-off.
  • The quote is budgetary, not a firm price.
  • It is still being built. You see what it does with your part, and what it cannot do yet.

One part. One straight answer.

Send us one part. See it run.

Your part pack

Free

  • 1A simulation
  • 2A sizing
  • 3A budgetary quote
  • 4A robot program, checked in simulation
  • 5A tooling evaluation
Send us one part

Best: a 3D STEP model. Or a drawing with the bend angles.

  1. 1Send one partYour file and a few answers
  2. 2We plan itWithin 2 business days
  3. 3You see itYour pack, with the simulation
  4. 4Talk it throughWhen you are ready

Machine Pilot. Built Here. Backed Here.