Intelligent Lathe Blade Exchange System
Keep employees safe with a fully automated blade exhange system
Improves Safety
Automates a Difficult Process
Checks for Debris and Confirms Blade Placement
Reduces Labor Costs
Changing lathe blades has historically been a major source of injury in Mills. So, RIOS is pleased to introduce the Intelligent Lathe Blade Exchange System – a lathe mountable robotic workcell that autonomously handles the entire lathe blade swapping process. This innovative solution safely streamlines the removal and replacement of lathe blades including debris removal and inspection.
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Autonomous Blade Changes. Intelligent Control. Continuous Improvement.
In wood products manufacturing, lathe blade changes are among the most hazardous and disruptive tasks on the floor.
RIOS has reengineered this process with the first fully autonomous Lathe Blade Exchange System—powered by RIOS AI Agents.
This intelligent system detects blade wear, executes precise removal and replacement, and safely disposes of used blades—without stopping production or requiring human intervention.
Designed for agentic control and continuous uptime, this innovation delivers:
Significant risk reduction in high-hazard operations
Elimination of unplanned downtime
More effective use of skilled labor
This is the future of industrial process control—self-improving systems that drive performance, safety, and productivity on the factory floor.
RIOS Agents Automate Decision-Making
The Intelligent Lathe Blade Exchange System executes the entire blade swap process, including blade removal, debris clearing, and precise replacement.
We use AI-Enabled Vision Inspection to continuously monitors the lathe’s status during the knife exchange to ensure a safe exchange. The system also inspects the lathe for debris and ensures a proper cleanout during the exchange.
Lathe Blade Exchange System: What It Does
These robotic workcells automate the lathe blade swapping process
- AI Sortation
Sorts veneer based on your specification. Automatically reject out of spec veneer more accurately and consistently than any other solution, including people. - Detects Out of Spec Veneer
Detects broken corners, narrow spots, open defects and splits. - Detects and Rejects Visible Debris
Automatically alerts when debris is detected to minimize stopped line recovery time.
- Operates Anywhere Veneer Is Handled
Veneer Handler locations include green chain, dryer in-feed, dryer out-feed, full sheet and composed layup line automation points. - Operates with Speed and Precision
Place veneer < 1/4" relative to AI vision or otherwise determined stationary or moving target(s) up to 20 times per minute. - Increases Production Time
Using sophisticated AI, VP Handlers inspect individual veneer, stacks of veneer and provide historical performance information to predict and prevent issues that cause downtime.
Veneer Handler Specifications
This robotic workcell has an 8'x10' footprint and can automate the process of moving veneer to and from stacks, conveyors and other machinery.
- Accepts stacks of 54" x 101.5" veneer up to 36" tall
In-feed stacked veneer sheets can have up to ± 3" variation in placement. - Places individual 4'x8' veneer sheets onto a layup conveyor moving up to 150ft / min
Able to place accurately 0-0.5 inches from lug of conveyor with <± 3/8" skew.
- Detects and rejects visible debris
Automatically alerts when debris is detected to minimize stopped line recovery time. - Detects out of spec veneer
Detects broken corners, narrow spots, open defects and splits.