Meet the ASA Team – Victor Xu

Meet Victor Xu, our newest member of the ASA team. Victor is one of our Melbourne-based Engineers, having graduated in 2017 from RMIT University in Melbourne with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with First Class Honors. Victor has worked across several sites since joining ASA and is thriving in his post-graduate role. We stopped to ask Victor a few questions about his role as an Automation Engineer at ASA.

What has been your favourite robot to work with?

Without a doubt, the FANUC LR-Mate series of robots, for their light weight, flexibility and speed. It is unparalleled. Having said that, I haven’t worked with one before, but I would love to work with a FANUC M-2000 robot, purely for the strength and size. It has a payload up to 2300 kg and moves entire cars with ease.

Our work takes us all over the globe – what’s would you describe as your favourite country to have worked in?

Mexico for sure, specifically at GM Silao. The local food in amazing, and different from what we experience here in Australia.

What’s been your biggest challenge to date?

The biggest hurdle I’ve had to overcome so far was a gripper design for one of our customers, due to the physical constraints and sheer size. The robot we selected for the task was an R2000iC-270F, which as the name suggests has a 270 kg payload rating. The product weight to pick is 180kg with a dimension of 3.6m x 1.8m, and the lifting components (vacuum system) of the gripper comes in at approximately 45kg, leaving only around 45 kg for the gripper frame/attachments. Through careful geometry and material choices, I’ve designed a gripper that will support the load safely and still be within the design constraints.

What do you enjoy most about working at ASA?

Personally, it is the people, the work-life balance and the work ethics in general. I’ve felt appreciated and happy at ASA ever since joining the group. At a professional level, it’s the on-going challenges and learning experiences afforded in this role. There’s never such a thing as a dull moment where you’re working on the design and integration of customized automation solutions for the end user, and I find enjoyment every day through continued opportunities to develop, while contributing something valuable to ASA and/or the client.