The system Bluewrist created would need to identify 80 different sized parts, the longest of which was 72”, and position these correctly on the paint hooks with an accuracy tolerance of 1mm in order to ensure the parts would be correctly dipped into the paint tank.
The 3D structured light camera is used to locate each part on the pallet (parts are placed in stacks on the pallet) so that it can be picked up and transferred to the scanning table. Locating the part also relies on comXtream to carry out the calculations required to provide a set of coordinates in the robot’s world coordinate system to ensure that the robot could drive its picking magnets directly to the part. Offsets were added to specific parts to ensure optimal magnet placement.
Once on the scanning table the laser profile cameras were placed at opposing angles so that the sides and the top of the part could be scanned. This creates a point cloud which can then be processed and aligned to the part’s CAD model. The amount that the part moved for the alignment to the CAD model is then used to recalculate how the material handler robot should pick up the part with a much higher accuracy (within ~1mm).
Once aligned the software is then able to identify the location of all of the holes on the part surface (3-12 depending on the part), in addition to the length, width and thickness of the part itself enabling the robot to then place the part accurately on the paint hook.