Tech
New Robot Effortlessly Picks Up Wheels: Implications for Production
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Dec 27, 2013 08:09 AM EST
It's a huge leap forward for robotic science. Researchers have created a robot that can effortlessly pick up castors no matter who the wheels are located. The findings could have implications for production processes, which could potentially be more effective and less costly.
When robots assemble the various parts of an office chair, operations run smoothly. Yet when it comes to placing the wheels on a chair, humans have to intervene. This new robot, though, has the ability to pick up these wheels from a box, no matter how jumbled they are.
Optimizing the industrial production line can greatly improve profits and efficiency. In the case of the new robot, two arms are at the heart of the operation. One of the robots is fitted with a gripper tool while the other has 3D vision (laser and advanced camera) that recognizes the various parts on a production line and identifies their position.
"The robotic gripper can pick up castors in four different ways," said Sigurd Albreksten, one of the researchers, in a news release. "That's important, because the castors are all in different positions."
In fact, the robot can pick out a wheel every four seconds. It's a necessary attribute considering that the production line produces one chair every 20 seconds.
"The currently pick-and-place robots are very good at picking up parts arranged in specific positions, but not if they are unsorted in a box," said Svein Peder Berge, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Now we can use a drawing (CAD model) to tell the robot which castor they must pick up. We teach the robot to recognize the wheel and its position in the box, so that it can grip it accurately and pick it up, regardless of its position in the box."
Yet this robot isn't only good for assembling chairs. It could be used for many other applications in the future. The robot represents a generic technology in which many different components can be handled by the same system, which could be crucial for future operations.
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First Posted: Dec 27, 2013 08:09 AM EST
It's a huge leap forward for robotic science. Researchers have created a robot that can effortlessly pick up castors no matter who the wheels are located. The findings could have implications for production processes, which could potentially be more effective and less costly.
When robots assemble the various parts of an office chair, operations run smoothly. Yet when it comes to placing the wheels on a chair, humans have to intervene. This new robot, though, has the ability to pick up these wheels from a box, no matter how jumbled they are.
Optimizing the industrial production line can greatly improve profits and efficiency. In the case of the new robot, two arms are at the heart of the operation. One of the robots is fitted with a gripper tool while the other has 3D vision (laser and advanced camera) that recognizes the various parts on a production line and identifies their position.
"The robotic gripper can pick up castors in four different ways," said Sigurd Albreksten, one of the researchers, in a news release. "That's important, because the castors are all in different positions."
In fact, the robot can pick out a wheel every four seconds. It's a necessary attribute considering that the production line produces one chair every 20 seconds.
"The currently pick-and-place robots are very good at picking up parts arranged in specific positions, but not if they are unsorted in a box," said Svein Peder Berge, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Now we can use a drawing (CAD model) to tell the robot which castor they must pick up. We teach the robot to recognize the wheel and its position in the box, so that it can grip it accurately and pick it up, regardless of its position in the box."
Yet this robot isn't only good for assembling chairs. It could be used for many other applications in the future. The robot represents a generic technology in which many different components can be handled by the same system, which could be crucial for future operations.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone