A modern, lightweight user-interface pendant on the newest robot control from Sepro Group connects plastics injection molders to a more intuitive, more powerful and more connectable control platform. The new Visual 4 control will be introduced at the K2025 trade fair and will become available on all Sepro robots in 2026.
Visual 4 represents the latest generation of automation-control technology developed by Sepro speci cally for plastics injection molding. This project involved the development of new hardware and software solutions with enhanced features. It is entirely compatible with existing Sepro systems and programming, so users with previous Visual controls will require only a short training session to become familiar with the new platform. This new HMI offers a simplifed and user-friendly interface for part removal and downstream operation programming around the injection molding machine.
The new Visual 4 control will be available in three variations with increasing capabilities for the full range of injection-molding applications:
- Visual 4 is the basic conguration suits simple pick-and-place applications, providing control of up to 5 axes and 24 inputs/outputs (I/Os).
- Visual 4 Plus supports more mold programs, with more I/Os, and allowing more connectivity to peripheral equipment (conveyors, sortation, etc.).
- Visual 4 Pro is aimed at application-specifc molding cells involving multiple robots, peripheral equipment and robots with special congurations.
Redesigned Operator-Interface Pendant
One of the first things one will notice about the new Visual 4 HMI is that the pendant is 25% lighter than its Visual 3 predecessor. The weight saving is the result, primarily, of moving the CPU board out of the pendant and into the main robot-control cabinet. This also results in greater data security, since critical components cannot be damaged if the pendant is dropped or otherwise compromised.
The Visual 4 digital screen on the pendant has an aspect ratio of 10:16 instead of 4:3 on the Visual 3 This more rectangular screen, positioned in portrait mode rather than landscape, has the e ect of providing a larger display without any increase in the overall of the pendant.
Like the screens on smartphones, tablets and other consumer electronics, the display on the Visual 4 pendant is a capacitive touchscreen, offering increased responsiveness and greater accuracy, while supporting multi-touch gestures. Graphic design is more modern, with a whiter background and less clutter.
In addition to the touchscreen, the Visual 4 pendant features 22 haptic shortcut buttons, providing quicker access to sub menus and basic commands such as start/stop cycle, axial movement, etc. Buttons also eliminate the need for a joystick, allowing for more intuitive robot movement through multiple axes. In addition to enhanced navigation and ergonomic features it also uses a powerful processor to control up to ten axes of motion, making it ideal for managing even complex molding cells, which can involve one or more than one IMM, and multiple robots in di ering congurations, plus peripheral equipment that performs secondary functions like assembly, marking, inspection, packaging, and so on. It can store up to 1000 mold programs for easy recall.
Secure and Compliant
Security features on the new Visual 4 control include user-pro le settings and authentication pro les are used to determine which users or groups have access to speciffic features or applications. The new Visual 4 control is fully compliant with existing Euromap standards and future-ready to conform with new standards expected to be introduced in the next few years.
“Sepro Group began making robots in the late 1970s and introduced its first “CNC manipulator” in 1981,” says Dirk Schroeder, Sepro Germany Managing Director & Sepro Group Product Director. “Since the very beginning, we have been developing our own native control systems to suit the very special needs of our customers - plastics injection molders. So, we know what we are doing. This new Visual 4 control takes advantage of all we have learned over the years and now takes advantage of modern technology and know-how to deliver the kind of performance, flexibility and ease-of-use molders need in order to be successful today.”
