Many sectors in industry produce batches of material in random orientation and need a better way to sort product that has large variability, complex non-geometric shaped parts. Presently, considerable in line automation or manual effort is required to sort parts that have large natural variation. Bin picking solutions are available but there are trade-offs in terms of speed, product shape, and accuracy of pick and place. Many systems do not have the capability to deal with large variability in product shape and size.
Research commercial bin picking solutions and build a prototype demonstrator for random bin picking, disclose recommendations giving consortium members an insight into bin picking solutions for complex-shaped variable products.
Technical challenges include:
The Product chosen to build the system around was croissants that satisfied the requirements for variability, non–symmetrical, and complex shaped parts.
IMR Engineers developed a full bin picking solution to locate and pick variable complexed shaped parts from random bins. The solution was designed and tested in a virtual environment. The final physical build was done with both collaborative and industrial robots, giving a cycle time of 9ppm.
The key elements required to build a bin picking software solution include 3D Vision, Object Identification, collision avoidance, trajectory planning, Bin design, and End of arm tooling design.
The System was built using a Kinnex 3d sensor and open source software ROS, Movit, and Halcon vision software from Multipix.
The development of the solution was carried out in 6 Stages:
IMR has built capability and expanded knowledge in the area of vision systems and robotic bin picking.
IMR’s consortium partners have gained an insight into:
Robotics and Automation