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PROCESS AUTOMATION FOCUS IN ON VISION SYSTEMS


Robots must have eyes to see: SICK Inspector PIM60 URCap


Martin Short, Machine Vision Specialist, SICK UK, outlines how machine vision systems have developed alongside the increase in robot use


Just like the robots themselves, vision hardware and software are becoming more accessible and are being applied to new applications. For every project, vision is saving development time by making systems easier to integrate, set up and use. Simple vision sensors can be configured in


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minutes to perform a pre-determined repeatable task, while programmable cameras can be uploaded with application- specific vision-guidance software that runs directly on the device itself. For more bespoke applications, high-precision streaming devices now provide super-high resolutions with rapid image-processing.


Three Robot Challenges When embarking on a new robot project, engineers have three main challenges: programming the path, designing the gripper, and localisation. Robots need vision for localisation. Vision sensors detect the correct part, then let the robot know its position and orientation, even if it is moving. The vision system captures an accurate image of the scene, processes the image data and communicates the co-ordinates rapidly to the robot controller. Vision sensors also offer the advantage of doubling up to undertake tasks such as quality inspection and classification simultaneously.


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obots must have eyes to ‘see’. So, as the use of robots expands, machine vision systems develop to complement them.


Is 2D or 3D needed? A 2D vision system will


be the correct solution when the image contrast is sufficient to extract data from a scene. A 2D vision sensor can survey a jumble of multiple components of different shapes and sizes, then locate and sort them, for example, to support the assembly of kitted parts. Rather than needing a human operator to keep a CNC machine continuously supplied, a cobot can do the job with the help of a SICK Inspector PIM60 2D camera. It can identify up to 32 different parts for the cobot to pick with no need for manual pre-sorting. Because robotic applications frequently


involve picking and placing, they often need three-dimensional measurements of the height, or depth, of an object. That data must be super-precise to avoid collisions that could damage the robot gripper or the product.


SICK PLB bin picking A challenging 3D application that is increasingly being automated is the need to


3D Vision cameras give robots height or depth information: SICK


Visionary T palletising


pick parts out of a bin or stillage. To do so, a robot must be able to identify the uppermost part to pick from the pile, then orientate and remove it without damaging the product, or the robot gripper itself. SICK’s PLB 3D vision- guidance system was initially developed in the automotive industry to pick randomly- orientated blanks, castings or forged metal parts, but now is used with robots of varying types, and is equally at home, for example, when picking small components in electronics or semiconductor production. New 3D camera options such as


stereovision and snapshot time-of-flight have widened the possibilities for processing depth and height data quickly and easily. But it is the corresponding software development that has crashed down the barriers to adoption, by reducing development time and eliminating the need for specialist programming skills. SICK’s smart cameras and programmable


devices are a versatile platform for a growing portfolio of easily-configured software applications. Ready-made applications are easy to upload to a programmable camera as an App to a mobile phone. Some even come pre- installed as an “out of the box”, all-in-one kit of hardware and software. The SICK Belt Pick Toolkit App, for example, is a 3D guided robotic belt-picking solution which provides precise height-based image processing directly on the SICK Trispector P1000 programmable 3D vision camera.


Easy Integration SICK’s focus has been to make it easy to


3 JULY/AUGUST 2022 | PROCESS & CONTROL


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