The Robotiq Palletising Solution has been specifically developed to meet the needs of companies providing essential goods in lower throughput applications with frequent changes of task and box or pallet size.
Said to be around 30% faster than other cobot palletisers currently on the market, the new system is designed for applications of up to 13 boxes/ minute.
Integrated application software enables the system to be installed in less than a day and enables set-up for a new SKU in as little as five minutes, according to the supplier.
The palletising application can be set up in three steps on the visual robot control device, with automatic trajectory planning and collision detection, and no need for a PC or external programming. Once programmed, simple one-click activation gets operations under way immediately.
Each system consists of a vertical axis, a robot base, application software and a vacuum gripper. In details: vertical 7th axis and control box containing PLC, drive, motor and safety relay; Robotiq's vacuum gripper AirPick, bracket and suction cups; pallet and box sensors; cable management system; URCaps nodes for palletiser and axis control; and two status lights.
It does not include the robot itself, although the company worked with supplier Universal Robots. "The synchronised motion makes it a very unique product in the cobot space," said Early Ewing, Head of UR+ Ecosystem at Universal Robots.
Nicolas Lauzier, senior product owner at Robotiq, explained: "The need to automate the palletising process - already a key consideration in many facilities due to the health & safety implications of repetitive and physically demanding manual palletising on human operatives - has only been intensified by the recent Covid-19 pandemic. However, many other cobot palletising solutions on the market have a large footprint, are comparatively high in cost and require substantial expertise in automation, while the time needed for programming can be significant. There are also challenges around the flexibility of these systems for different applications - for example, handling smaller boxes or using pallets of different sizes - and their speed, which rarely exceeds 10 boxes/ minute. The issue is often further complicated by the use of components from multiple providers, leading to compatibility issues. The new Palletising Solution by Robotiq is addressing all of these issues at once”
Risk assessment recommendations comprise an e-learning module on safety and a dedicated section on safety in the instruction manual. The system is also compatible with third party safety systems such as safety interlocks, light curtains and area scanners.