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A New Machine Vision Option

Monday, 21 January 2019

We have added Teledyne Dalsa as an option to our complement of machine vision hardware suppliers.

Visualizing a Solution

Sunday, 20 January 2019

Today it is relatively easy to help a customer to understand what their solution will look like.

When is a Cobot Not?

Sunday, 20 January 2019

Cobot’s are robots designed to work side by side with humans on the plant floor and currently there is a boom in the collaborative robot market.

However, there are two common adjustments customers make that effectively change their cobot to a robot.

  1. The gripper or end effector of the robot does not meet the safety criteria for a cobot.  If this add on device is not as safe as the robot then additional safety devices must be added and you effectively have just another robot.  For example:  If you put a flamethrower, or other dangerous tool on the end of a cobot it ceases to become a cobot.
  2. If the standard default collaborative speed or force settings are over ridden your cobot becomes just another robot.  This happens in some cases when a customer realizes they don’t have the speed they need to achieve their cycle time requirements.

Should this be a reason not to purchase a cobot?  Absolutely not, when you purchase a cobot you usually get the benefits of a robot at no extra charge along with future added flexibility.  Just be aware that the cobot you take out of the box may need to be treated like a robot if you make changes like those above.

Five things to consider when integrating robots with machine vision inspection.

Sunday, 20 January 2019

When do you want to use machine vision exclusively and when should you pair a camera with a robot?  Consider these factors:

  1. Cost.  Simply analyze all the areas where machine vision may be desired in an inspection process.  Then compare the cost of hardware for multiple cameras verses a single camera and a robot.
  2. Evaluate Cycle Time.  Typically, short cycle times drive dedicated cameras that can work in parallel as opposed to a robot/camera solution that will perform sequential inspections.
  3. Fixture Changes.  How often do fixtures or part families at the inspection station change?  Higher numbers typically favor robot integration.
  4. Required Accuracy.  This is usually evaluated on a case by case basis, however high-resolution requirements or measurements often favor dedicated cameras.
  5. Positional Accuracy over time.  Large robots in particular can be impacted by a variety of factors that can impede their use with vision.  Large fixtures that are changed regularly require extra and additional controls to maintain the systems accuracy.  Environmental factors that impact the robot become increasingly significant as the volume of the inspection area increases.