Precise picking & placement of pipe parts

Partners:

Mitec Enginy, S.L.

Bcnvision

Problem:

The customer Isotubi, S.L., which is a part of Grupo Lapuente, has been working in the stainless steel world for more than 40 years.

They decided to automate one of their processes that was performed manually before – the picking of 6 type of pipe parts from a container where they are randomly positioned and placing them into Isotubi’s wedging machine. The final, fully automatized solution needed to be fast and easily changed to meet the customer’s requirements and increase productivity.

Solution:

PhoXi 3D Scanner L

The pipe parts are picked and placed by a Staübli TX2-90L robot equipped with 3D vision from Photoneo in the form of a PhoXi 3D Scanner model L.

The scanner scans and detects the parts in the container, determines which parts can be taken by the robot, and calculates the picking point and the trajectories for the robot. 

The robotic arm is equipped with a vacuum cup to pick the randomly positioned parts from the container one by one. Subsequently, the robot places the parts onto a repositioning table.

Discussion:

The customer tested a number of different vision systems but finally decided for the PhoXi 3D Scanner for several reasons. The scanner provides reliable and robust performance, the user interface program is very intuitive, user-friendly, and functional, and Photoneo offers high-quality local and email support.

The automation of the pick & place task resulted in labor and time savings, shorter cycle time, and greater productivity.

Another significant advantage of the solution is the possibility to change between different types of parts by switching the ID solutions of the BPS. This provides great versatility and reduces the time required for changing the different pipe parts.