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MACHINE BUILDING

Solves a cheesy challenge

VISION-GUIDED ROBOTICS

PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTS
OF EVERY SIZE AND IN EVERY
INDUSTRY ARE STARTING TO
BENEFIT FROM NEW FREEDOMS
AS ROBOT-GUIDANCE SYSTEMS
BECOME MORE ACCESSIBLE AND
AFFORDABLE THAN THEY HAVE
EVER BEEN BEFORE. HERE WE
LOOK AT A 3D VISION-GUIDED
SOLUTION FOR THE FOOD AND
DRINK INDUSTRY

oft, squidgy mozzarella cheese balls slither around
a brine-filled, sealed, glossy tubular bag. Could
there be a tougher challenge than automating the
Ssecondary packaging of these delicate individual
portions? Such was the task facing engineers at the
German packaging machinery manufacturer A&F,
Automation & Fördertechnik, who worked with specialists
at Sick to develop a reliable high-speed 3D vision-guided
solution, based on Sick’s IVC-3D smart camera and A&F‘s damage and leakage, but resulted in highly inefficient use and height to the FlexoPac’s robot controller, which
popular FlexoPac solution using 4-axis Delta 3 pick-and- of the available packing space. calculates where to pick up the mozzarella bags on the
place robots. It handles 150 mozzarella bags per minute Initial testing soon demonstrated that the glossy moving conveyor.
on two synchronized conveyers. packaging material and the irregular shape – the “The gripper arm always moves to the correct point of
The human process used to transfer each delicate mozzarella balls do not always lie in the middle of the the product,” explains Sascha Barkei, A&F software
product from the conveyor into secondary packaging had bag – was too challenging for 2D vision guidance. Instead, engineer. “Since the camera reports the height, we can
become too slow to keep up with rapidly-growing demand. using the Sick IVC-3D enabled height-based detection of adapt the gripping position to take account of the
Alternatively, dropping them in bulk from the end of a the varying 4 to 44mm profile of the bags. The camera mozzarella ball not being in the centre of the bag and
conveyor into a cardboard box, not only risked product sends data sets including the object centre, orientation guide the gripper to pick it gently every time, without
risking a collision.” The 125g, 250g or 400g packs are
fed randomly onto the conveyor. Identified based on their
3D measurements, they can then be sorted into three
different box types and placed according to five pre-
determined packaging plans.
The Sick IVC-3D delivered a quick return on
investment for A&F not only due to its measurement
performance, but also because the camera’s ease of
configuration and integration into the machine and factory
network meant the project could be delivered using A&F’s
in-house know-how and resources. Further, using Smart
3D vision has widened the opportunities to automate pick-
and-place robotics solutions for applications like gripping
of complex shapes and profiles and picking products with
variable heights.
Combining, imaging, lighting and analysis into one
housing, the IVC-3D is a smart camera that measures
height, volume, and shape independent of contrast and
colour, using the laser triangulation principle. As one of
the world’s first Smart 3D cameras, the Sick IVC-3D
makes advanced 3D image processing easy. Applications
that required complicated camera and illumination
technology are now mastered much more simply.
MORE INFORMATION: www.sick.com

April 2020 •INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY 23