The main objective is to demonstrate reliable bin picking of shafts and axles in real industrial scenarios and to quantify performances in order to confirm the technical readiness of the solution for the industry.
The seamless integration of a versatile gripper integrated with the Pickit 3D vision platform and specific software for shaft handling, allows a robot manipulator to pick shafts randomly positioned in a bin to feed CNC machines
Benefits for the users
Compared to a mechanical feeder, this solution significantly reduces maintenance costs and saves floor space. Also, thanks to its flexibility, it can cover a wide range of parts. Compared to manual feeding, this solution relieves workers from ergonomic injuries and greatly improves safety. Finally, the proven gripper design combined with validated performances provides a risk-free solution for system integrators.
Innovation
The patent-pending gripper builds on the concept of having an adaptable tooltip with a magnet or suction module mounted on a passive rotational axis.
- It maximizes the likelihood of finding a pickable part compared to a classical straight or slanted tool. This is because the tooltip (in this case, the magnet fingers) can adopt any position within a continuous range between -45 to +45 degrees, instead of only one (straight tool) or two (slanted/eccentric tool) discrete positions.
- It minimizes the required cell footprint by reducing the robot tilting workspace
- It simplifies the picking motion and helps to extract part blocked
Sectors of application
FORGING: Picking of raw billets to feed the furnace or pick the shafts to load machines.,
AUTOMOTOVE FACTORY: feed shafts and axles into CNC machines.
Background
This application was developed thanks to the TRINITY-network of multidisciplinary and synergistic local digital innovation hubs (DIHs) composed of research centers, companies, and university groups that cover a wide range of topics that can contribute to agile production: advanced robotics as the driving force and digital tools, data privacy and cyber security technologies to support the introduction of advanced robotic systems in the production processes.
More information can be found on :
- Pickit website : predictable bin picking for shafts and axles
- TRINITY website : demonstrator description
The main DIGITALIS partner involved :
