February 2022 Volume 4

AUTOMATION

Delivering Benefits to Material Handling in Forging Green-Eyed Robots Deliver on the Promise By Rob Mertens and Kinga Slonina

The Pickit 3D billet picker

Vision-guided pick and place robots - robot arms equipped with a 3D Vision system and purpose-built gripper present themselves a novel automation solution that is increasingly entering forging plants. The Industry 4.0 revolution is different from anything else we know from history. The primary facilitator: artificial intelligence. AI increases the possibilities to automate processes with robots that have faced limitations in the past and the forging industry can benefit from that as well. The Challenges The lack of qualified employees is an increasing problem for many US manufacturers. According to studies, labor shortages could cost the production $1 trillion by 2030 in the United States alone. Next to that, we shouldn’t forget the already existing challenges such as the health and safety of the workers and inherent problems with conventional automation methods. These mechanical feeder systems have a high total cost of ownership, e.g., maintenance, and produce high levels of pollution, i.e., noise and vibrations. Not even talking about costs related to downtime. These reasons add to the business-case of vision-guided robots.

Let’s talk about material handling. Feeding round stock into an induction furnace is an ideal application for vision-guided robots. These robots with integrated 3D vision and custom-tailored end-of- arm-tool do the job straight from containers at a lower cost. Yes, that means no loud bowl feeders and no footprint intensive bin tippers. This article deep dives into the technology that makes robots fit for the job: The Billet Picker by Pickit 3D - a smart 3D vision system with integrated end-of-arm-tool, compatible with any robot brand. Mastermind - 3D Vision Software Makes Robots Smart When a human picks up an item, let’s again say a piece of round stock, they identify the location of the object visually. The robot does this very similarly. The manipulator, typically with the camera mounted on-arm, moves to the container, and requests the vision- system to acquire an image. This 3D image serves as the base input to locate parts for picking.

FIA MAGAZINE | FEBRUARY 2022 26