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FEATURE MACHINE BUILDING, FRAMEWORKS & SAFETY
sponsored by LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE
OF SMART MANUFACTURING Benedict Yelf, machine vision and automation engineer at Optimal Industrial Automation,
explains how combined robotics and vision systems are pushing the boundaries of industrial automation applications
prolonged periods with high reproducibility and speed. Improving employee safety, they can handle heavy items or operate in hazardous areas; and even directly assist employees. However, even the most advanced models
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have limited spatial awareness and lack a level of cognition about their surroundings. This limits their potential, specifically in areas where precision is required or the environment changes around them. Applications such as pick and place within the pharmaceutical industry or processes with a tight tolerance, such as drilling within the aerospace industry, would greatly benefit from robot vision. Thanks to the latest developments in this field, it is possible to overcome these challenges and create extremely powerful and versatile solutions. The most common pick-and-place systems include examples where vision-enabled robots can sort, load, pack, assemble or discard items. In addition, companies can benefit from their gluing and dispensing solutions, machines for in-process quality checks, as well as scanning and code reading units. Furthermore, as the latest robots and vision systems are easier than ever
achines involving robotics can offer a wealth of benefits to their users, conducting repetitive tasks for
to integrate with additional hardware, such as sensors, laser scanners, PLCs and mobile devices, the seemingly impossible can be turned into reality. This can be seen when looking at the rise of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs). These can navigate around the factory floor, moving products and inventory, seeing and acting accordingly to the world around them.
VISION-ENABLED ROBOTICS When looking to adopt vision-enabled robotic systems, a key aspect is defining the most suitable components. In addition to typical considerations on budget, payload, processing rate, space available and type of gripper, other parameters need to be factored in – including illumination and ambient light (environmental lighting), image processing speed, properties of the objects that are to be assessed by the vision system, as well as the compatibility of the different machine components. It is important to look for a vision system that
can reliably identify the items that the robot needs to interact with while considering its impact on the overall investment. For example, when handling elements that vary greatly in terms of colour and/or shape, solutions can range in
complexity. These may involve changing the angle of the lighting or using advanced lighting options, such as a multi-coloured ring light, to enhance the optical spectrum that the system can detect. This can provide more accurate colour description, resolution and contrast, as well as reduce any noise in the image. Furthermore, such a system can incorporate LEDs for UV and IR lights, expanding detection capabilities beyond the visible spectrum. In effect, users can benefit from a vision tool that has access to more than the 1000x the number of colours a standard camera can detect whilst offering three times the level of physical resolution. Of course, the benefits of more detailed imaging solutions need to be balanced with the feasibility of processing power required.
“Applications such as pick and place within the pharmaceutical industry or processes with a tight tolerance, such as drilling within the aerospace industry, would greatly benefit from robot vision”
Other important aspects include the identification of the ideal height and the calibration of the cameras. If the field of view is not scaled to the environment correctly, the robot may not be able to locate or position the right item, which would lead to poor quality results, reworks and, ultimately, higher costs. It is also important to ensure proper lighting and background at any time while the system is in operation. This can be more challenging than expected if the machine is exposed, even partially, to ambient light, which can change throughout the day. Similarly, the presence of forklifts or other pieces of equipment featuring lightbulbs or other sources of artificial lighting that operate near vision-enabled robots, has the potential to influence the robot vision system. By partnering with specialists who
have a proven track record of successful implementations that combine robotic and vision systems, such as Optimal Industrial Automation, companies can benefit from high-quality solutions that address their needs.
Optimal Industrial Automation T: 01454 333222
www.optimal-ltd.co.uk
24 DESIGN SOLUTIONS DECEMBER/JANUARY 2024
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