Guidance Solutions
We define our guidance solutions as either 2D or 3D optics to enhance the capabilities of robots. The integrated solution often requires software programming that may include artificial intelligence (AI) to augment performance.
A common but often challenging application of vision guided robotics is bin picking, or the process of emptying incoming bins of product and placing it to its next position in the process.
| Structured Bin Picking | Semi-Structured Bin Picking | Unstructured Bin Picking | Random Bin Picking | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PART ORGANIZATION | Parts are placed in an organized, predictable manner, typically with regular spacing and orientation. The placement and orientation of the parts are known, which simplifies the process of locating and picking them. | Parts are partially organized, but there may be some variations in placement or orientation. Although there’s some structure, the parts may be slightly misaligned or have minor overlap, introducing variability. | Parts are randomly placed within a bin, with significant variability in orientation and position. No clear pattern or organization is present. | A specific case of unstructured bin picking where items are completely unordered and have no relationship to one another. The randomness can apply not only to their position and orientation but also to their size and type. |
| PART PLACEMENT | Parts arranged in a grid or pattern on a tray. Products neatly stacked in rows and columns. | Components that are placed loosely in a designated section of a bin but generally facing a similar direction. Parts that are sorted but not perfectly arranged, such as screws in a box. | Loose parts that are piled up in a bin with varying sizes and shapes. A mix of products that have been dumped into a container without sorting. | A box filled with different types of hardware (e.g., bolts, nuts, washers) without categorization. Mixed products in a scrap or recycling bin. |
| APPLICATIONS | Common in manufacturing environments with repeatable processes that handle identical products. | Common in situations where speed and efficiency are balanced with the flexibility to handle slight irregularities. | Common in e-commerce fulfillment, automotive, or other industries where items are manually dumped into bins for processing. | Common in recycling facilities, scrap sorting, or scenarios with high variability in product type. |
Benefits to Manufacturers
Remove costly, hard-to-find operators from low-skill tasks and redeploy them to higher value work
Improve human safety in dangerous, dirty, and dull environments
Perform beyond human capabilities
Simplify fixturing and hard tooling costs using vision
Gateway to new automation philosophy for material handling
Integrated data solutions for traceability and process optimization with Proximity Smart Support
Case Studies
3D Vision Guided Bin Picking of Zirconium Sheaths
Our customer within the nuclear energy industry required an automation solution capable of handling zirconium sheaths for end cap welding and further assembly. There were thirteen (13) different part variants to be transferred to the next stage of the process.
TrueLight developed an automated bin-picking solution featuring a Cognex 3D Vision system integrated to a FANUC material handling robot to handle the zirconium sheaths.
The vision guided robot system was able to precisely pick sheaths from a semi-structured bin according to recipes specified by the PLC. The selected sheaths would be assembled into batches, loaded with uranium, and then placed by additional robots onto a tooled conveyor for the upcoming welding process.
The turnkey vision solution developed by TrueLight has been successfully integrated into the production line and is achieving cycle time, quality, and technical availability requirements for our customer.
It benefits the customer by increasing productivity and reducing processing times. Additionally, it allows them to optimize the utilization of skilled labour and minimize health and safety risks.
3D Vision Guided Robotic Fastening and Torquing
Our customer required rivnuts to be robotically fastened into holes on parts that were hollow rails. The incoming rails were all bent to some degree (the parts were either "smiling" or "frowning"), which caused variability in hole position between like parts. To make things a little more challenging, there were 5 rail variants in total, each with multiple holes requiring rivnuts.
TrueLight utilized FANUC 3D vision on the rivnut robot(s) to integrate a robust process that allowed for the variability in hole position to exist and accommodated for it within the required cycle time for the system.
Repeatable location of critical features (holes) to achieve the required cycle time of 29 or 34 seconds, depending on part variant. The cost of 3D vision hardware was offset by the ability to utilize a more cost-effective part fixturing design as a result of the vision guidance.
Integration Capabilities
|
2D iRVision 2D |
|
3D 3DL 3DA 3DV |
|
3D L4000 |
| Apera Vue |
|
2D CV-X/XG-X |
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3D PhoXi |
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3D Mech-Eye PRO Mech-Viz Mech-DLK |
STEP INTO THE FUTURE OF VISION GUIDED ROBOTICS
Contact us today. Let us help you redefine what is possible with advanced robotic guidance.