Sensor-based Handling Technology – „Robot Systems and Applications for 3D Object Recognition (Bin Picking, Depalletizing“)

In the field of sensor-based handling technology we summarize all those robot systems and applications where objects have to be identified and localized, or the robot movement has to be controlled and monitored with the help of a sensor or sensor information (e.g. 3D vision sensor, force-torque sensor). The robot applications are mainly in the field of 3D object recognition ("bin picking") but also in sensitive joining or grinding.

Robotic 3D object recognition: AROTEC teaches robots to see

3D vision sensors are able to detect their environment or a scene in three dimensions (more precisely 2.5 dimensions). The corresponding spatial information is provided by the 3D vision sensors in the form of a so-called point cloud. The 3D object recognition software, installed on a computer, can determine a specific object within a point cloud, along with its spatial position (or pose) within it. If a conventional robot is combined with a 3D vision sensor, the robot gets "eyes" and can thus see.

Advantage over 2D object recognition algorithms:

The object to be picked, foreign objects and object overlays can be determined more precisely. Because of the additional - the third - dimension, all existing information is taken into account. No information is lost.

3D object recognition - versatile applications

With this technology, numerous new robotic applications can now be realized. The most common application is the robotic separation of partially or disorderly provided objects. For disordered objects we speak of "bin picking", for partially ordered objects simply of “depalletizing”.

AROTEC is an experienced specialist for robotic "bin picking" applications. Our robot systems for "bin picking" essentially consist of a robot (usually a 6-axis industrial robot), a specific end-of-arm tool (or gripper system) and a 3D vision sensor together with our proprietary 3D object recognition software ART-3D. For robotic depalletizing of tires, we name the 3D object recognition software DEPALGO@TIRE.

The 3D object recognition software ART-3D is at the heart of all our robotic automation solutions for "bin picking" or “depalletizing”. The 3D object recognition software not only takes over the task of locating one or more objects. It also decides which object the robot is to grip reliably with its end effector, and how or along which path. The path planning module integrated in the ART-3D object recognition software is used for this purpose. It checks whether the object can be picked up by the robot without collision and brought out of the bin. To ensure that the robot executes the planned movement exactly, path planning is not performed in Cartesian space, but in the robot's axis space (inverse transformation).

In order to achieve a high removal probability during the robotic separation of objects, special attention must be paid to the design of the end-of arm tool (gripper). If its interference contour is too large, objects located near the side walls of the bin or container cannot be gripped by the robot without collision. In addition, the end-of-arm tool must be able to pick up the object at different object or gripping points. This is where our many years of experience in robotics and gripper design come into effect. AROTEC supports You in the development of grippers to be able to grip any product - specifically tailored to Your needs.

Additional plus: The 3D object recognition software can be used on conventional computers under Windows.

The fields of application for a "bin picking" robot are almost limitless – separation of foundry, forged or stamped products, depalletizing and separation of cartons, (plastic) containers, tires, (frozen) bakery products, and many more.

3D object recognition can also be used in quality assurance (for quality and geometry inspection, completeness check, etc.) and in path-guided machining processes. Examples are robotic deburring, robotic plasma cutting or robotic welding.

With our robots for bin picking or depalletizing You can experience 3D object recognition at the highest level.

Standardized interfaces allow communication with different 3D vision sensors (e.g. runtime measuring, projecting or light-sectioning sensors from different manufacturers), the cell controller and a higher-level/ master computer system.