In industrial robotics, it’s one thing to swing a mass around at the end of a robotic arm, and quite another to know exactly where you’re positioning a part in assembly or quality inspection processes.
Today, manufacturers are using machine vision technologies to identify part placement, essentially giving eyes to industrial robots.
In the video above, we talk about how these vision systems can be installed onto the wrists of robot arms with Dan Howe, regional development manager at LMI Technologies Inc.
Howe demonstrates the concept with a UR robot paired with LMI’s Gocator 2340 technology.
“This product has an onboard tool set,” he explained. “What we’re doing is a 3D analysis of the scene around the robot to pick out parts, getting their positions and measureing their quality and depth. What’s nice about it is that it’s all self-contained in the sensor. The sensor is calculating all of the necessary parameters and feeding it directly to the robot.”
The 3D data collected from the vision system at the wrist of the robot is calculated into real world coordinates, Howe explained.
“It seems complicated, but the interface is actually very easy to interact with, very intuitive.”
The intelligence of the system allows a robot equipped with the system to adapt to changing layouts of products. For example, if items were moving down a production line in random locations, the vision system would be able to identify where exactly the parts are located and how to adjust to pick them up efficiently.
“The automotive industry is a big example of where this type of system could be used. You can also use it with packaging and applications in the food industry and consumer products,” Howe said.
“As robots get better and better, the entire system gets better and better. The precision of a robot like the UR robot, combined with the precision of a sensor like the Gocator 2340, is more than enough to perform most factory automation applications.”
For more information, watch the video above and visit the LMI Technologies website.