When robots meet vision
More and more companies pair robotics and machine vision in their production process.
Larry Maloney, Contributing Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 7/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
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Adding machine vision to a production process presents a big enough challenge to most engineers, but what happens when you combine vision with robotics?
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The answer, obviously, is that it’s no walk in the park, yet more and more companies are pairing the two technologies. Adept Technology, a Pleasanton, CA, company that has shipped more than 25,000 robots in its 26-year history, reports that about 40% of its applications pair robotics and machine vision. That’s up from 30% just two years ago.
 Featuring an integrated vision system, the Adept Quattro robot first locates parts on a conveyor belt and then transfers them to another belt at speeds of up to 180 parts a minute. Courtesy of Adept Technology. |
Behind this increase, said Adept senior systems engineer Travis Armstrong, is the surge in flexible manufacturing, where robots reduce the need for changes in expensive fixtures as production lines adapt to accommodate a wider mix of products. “Once you’ve introduced the robot,” explained Armstrong, “it’s a logical step to include machine vision to inspect a part, often at the point where the robot is loading or unloading a component.”
About 20% of Adept’s robot/vision applications involve electronics. The company’s vision-guided Python electrostatic dissipative robots feature a linear module design that can be configured to fit applications that are sensitive to electrostatic discharge, such as disk-drive alignment.
Adding machine vision to robotics can also provide new insights on ways to improve a manufacturing process. Armstrong said that’s especially true for emerging industries like solar energy, where companies are experimenting with a broad variety of processes. Adept’s Quattro robot, introduced just last year, is already making a major impact on that market, with some 300 robots already installed.
With its four fixed axes, Quattro typically mounts on a rigid overhead frame above one to four conveyor belts. Its integrated vision system locates the parts on moving belts, and the robot decides when to pick up the part by tracking it through a belt pick-up window. The robot can pick up parts at the rate of up to 180 per minute.
In most cases, said Armstrong, companies tend to think about robotics first, and then begin to consider whether it’s beneficial to include vision. As for costs, adding vision to a process involving one robot increases total expenses by 10 to 15%, estimated Armstrong. But that percentage drops as you introduce more robots and cameras, since initial software and setup costs are spread over more components.
But cost, though important, is not the main reason some companies still balk at choosing a robotics/vision solution. “The biggest stumbling block is the perceived complexity of integrating these two technologies,” said Armstrong.
To ensure a successful marriage of these technologies, Armstrong pointed out, companies must make the right choices on cameras, lenses, and lighting—and carefully define such parameters as pass/fail criteria in inspection applications. Even more important, said Armstrong, is the smooth integration of the robot’s motion-control system with the software that commands the vision system. Adept believes it has solved that challenge with a closely linked turnkey solution: Its SmartController CX for motion and its PC-based AdeptSight software for vision.
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