Gartringen- based, Faude Group has developed a bin picking system, which incorporates a six-axis robot developed by Universal Robotics and Leuze electronic’s two-dimensional vision sensor.
The weight of the robot is 18kg and it can position objects, each measuring a maximum weight of 5kg within 850mm of working radius and ± 0.1 mm of repeatability. The robot can place the component in the right orientation, irrespective of whether it is positioned upward, downward, slanted or turned. The robot is termed as FIPS (Flexibility, Intuitiveness, Price and Safety) and it can be installed and operated in a few hours.
The company linked their ‘Flexvision’ image processing system with the Line Profile Sensor 36 (LPS 36) of Leuze electronic for enabling the robot to automatically identify the objects. The sensor offers two dimensional cross-sectional outlines through the tray and the vision system builds it into a three dimensional image of both the tray and its components. The LPS36 sensor can be compared to an array of 376 optical sensors measuring laser distance and operating together for scanning a line measuring 600mm. The sensor is precisely calibrated once it is turned on.
The Flexvision system is exclusively designed for industrial purposes. Its modular layout utilizes MVTec Software’s HALCON 3D vision libraries for making the system more adaptable. The image acquirement interface can easily function with the HALCON image processing software to offer easy identification of equally distant three- dimensional information or sketching ‘slices’ from the sensor. The measurement information from the sensor in complicated three dimensional applications can be interpreted and further handled to calculate volume and also to determine the location of three-dimensional objects. This enables users to save time on several tasks like developing software and programming algorithms.
The LPS sensor offers a cost- effective method of calculating dimensions or location of components when compared to the camera- based vision systems. It does not involve complexity unlike other sensor products that link sensors with supplementary estimation units. The Bin picking system illustrates how the sensor helps the robot to autonomously identify, which object can be effectively grabbed using the height data obtained from the sensor to determine the location in a three-dimensional form. Another advantage of the LPS 36 sensor is that the laser identification system of the sensor does not vary with alterations in the surrounding light.
Dieter Faude, Managing Director of Faude Automatisierungstechnik GmbH, has stated that their innovative robotic system can meet present market demands with respect to adaptability, simplicity, process competency and output.
The effective robotic integration, image processing system and LPS 36 sensor offer a competent pattern and location identification to the Bin picking system. The company showcased the system at MOTEK, the global trade event in Stuttgart, displaying the latest handling, assembling and automation technologies.