3D position determination of metal rings

Robots are becoming increasingly important in the automation of production processes. Fully automated loading and unloading processes of machines require highly flexible concepts on the part of robot integrators. Tolerances in component supply (e.g. on pallets and in blisters) as well as a high number of product variants with regard to their geometric dimensions, should be detected fully automatically if possible and gripped safely by the robot.

With the help of a 3D laser triangulation sensor, the positions of metal rings placed on a pallet are detected. The sensor is integrated directly on the gripper and is moved by the robot linearly over the pallet. After the scan is completed, the robot has the following information at its disposal: Component coordinates X, Y and Z, component diameter, component height and the position of the component (top side / bottom side). After the component removal, the position of the intermediate layer is recorded in a further scan. Thanks to the transmitted data, the robot finds its optimum gripping points and can thus react flexibly to the different conditions in the production environment.

As a result of the modularity of the aku.3D system, several inspection tasks can be carried out simultaneously in one scan run. Via the integrated Ethernet interface, the robot controller has access to a wide range of data that stabilizes the process and makes it more flexible. Furthermore, the aku.3D system is able to store all quality-relevant data so that it can be used for process optimization. In connection with the automatic calibration routine, the system can be easily integrated into the coordinate world of the robot by the user.