Market trends and business prospects

Comment by David Edwards on November 23, 2021

Goal: Fully automatic small parts picking.

In the field of internal logistics, whether in trade journals or exhibitions, there has been a lot of hype about robots over the years.

Most of them are classic six-axis joint robots, and they are looking for ways to leave the production environment and enter the logistics.

The main driving factor here is labor shortage. The biggest challenge is not technical components like robots or grippers, but the design of the entire economic process.

Since robots can only handle a part of the items in each category, there is a parallel flow of goods, so there may be risks in goods flow, inventory, synchronization, and integration.

The "automatic picking" picking robot from psb intralogistics GmbH from Pirmasens (Germany) meets this challenge.

The core of the fully automated solution for picking individual items includes a robot with a gripper, an IT network for the entire system, and a powerful image processing system-equipped with two Ensenso 3D cameras from IDS Imaging Development Systems GmbH.

The vision system acts as the eyes of the robot. It detects the graspable surface of the object to be processed in the source container, and calculates the grasping point and collision-free path of the robot.

This allows the robot to pick up unknown products directly from the bulk material and place them in the target box in the area with the lowest fill. The vacuum cup ensures gentle gripping of the corresponding objects. There is no need to "teach" individual products in advance.

Whether it is a medicine bottle or a tea bag, the multi-function holder can be individually designed for various items with the most diverse packaging units.

Over time, the system will learn which different gripping methods are best for each project.

The picking performance achievable by the process safety system depends to a large extent on the characteristics of the object to be picked, ranging from 300 to 500 parts per hour.

Two Ensenso N35 3D cameras provide the necessary image data for the system. All Ensenso 3D cameras work according to the "projected texture stereo vision" method.

Each model uses two CMOS sensors and a projector to project high-contrast structures onto the object to be captured even in difficult lighting conditions.

Ensenso cameras use stereo vision to mimic human vision. The result is a 3D point cloud as the basis for the required spatial object information.

In order to integrate the camera into the automatic picking, psb internal logistics uses the Ensenso SDK. In addition to the wizard for easy setup and camera calibration that supports 3D cameras, it also includes GPU-based image processing options for faster 3D data processing.

It also supports the output of a single 3D point cloud of all cameras used in multi-camera operations, which is necessary in this case, and the real-time synthesis of 3D point clouds from multiple viewing directions.

The first camera is installed above the source frame so that the latter can be regarded as a collision object in the path planning of the robot arm. The unknown part is displayed here, and a point cloud for searching for the appropriate handle point is generated.

The latter is done with the help of Mikado ARC (Adaptive Robot Control) software from isys vision.

It combines Ensenso's 3D stereo vision camera technology with an easy-to-configure adaptive robot controller. The result is a complete 3D robot vision solution for bin picking and parts handling using automated robots, provided by autokick.

It does not follow a pre-defined, taught, and clearly defined path, but is positioned independently in the workspace and reacts to every situation.

The second camera is located above the target frame. It searches for free storage locations. In addition, the Z height of the items in the box is also determined so that this can be taken into account when determining the storage location.

It is vital that the target box is evenly occupied and the products are placed carefully. The latter is particularly important when selecting fragile parts. The image acquisition is not synchronized with the movement of the robot to optimize the cycle time.

"We chose Ensenso N35 because of its compact design and high point cloud quality. For the field of view considered, the N series is ideal. The configuration of the camera can be adjusted easily and accurately according to the respective product portfolio, even during the process. Adjustment,” explained the system manager of psb internal logistics.

Processing information and picking orders are exchanged through the interface with the warehouse management system.

Online trade continues to maintain strong growth. At the same time, the field of e-commerce is becoming more and more difficult. Therefore, innovative internal logistics technology is usually necessary to remain competitive.

At the same time, almost no economic sector currently struggles with a lack of suitable young talents like logistics.

Therefore, the economic benefits of picking robots are very considerable, and they will have a place in debugging in the medium to long term.

The underlying solution of artificial intelligence will learn to deal with other challenges besides grasping-independently or in cooperation with humans, reliable and precise.

Image processing using a 3D camera etc. can provide a decisive overview and necessary security.

Filing basis: Features marked as: box, camera, camera, cloud, ensenso, grip, image, intralogistics, object, part, picking, point, processing, product, robot, robot, system, target, time, vision

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