MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION FOR FLEXIBLE ENDOSCOPES

Autowind is the machine that scales Neptune’s economic future. Neptune’s Triton robotic GI platform relies on single-use custom endoscopes that take 35-50 minutes to build by hand. Today, technicians hold filament spools and walk along a spinning mandrel, hand-laying plastic and other filaments. With unattended operation, Autowind is projected to raise output from 11 devices to 400 per operator shift.

I’m leading development of this novel automated endoscope-winding system and having a blast solving new challenges. I most enjoy solving the puzzles that drive architectural decisions and distilling system parameters into shared requirements across the org. Over the past 8 months, I’ve driven our 1m half-scale prototype to learn cheaply and early, while inventing mechanisms for autonomous filament handling and dexterity at multiple process stages. Our prototype is built and coordinated motion has begun!

*Image from RothGreaves, Automatic Coil Winder

A full size Autowind will have 15 filament modules in a horizontal library layer, ready to be picked up by the main carriage and applied to the mandrel.