The Best Industrial Robotic Applications for A 3D Laser Vision System

Indus­tri­al robots can per­form dozens of dif­fer­ent appli­ca­tions, and some pro­duc­tion lines may require sev­er­al dif­fer­ent appli­ca­tions before a prod­uct is fin­ished. So, how do you decide where to inte­grate a 3D vision sys­tem? What appli­ca­tions would ben­e­fit the most from that kind of tech­nol­o­gy? Here is a list of a few appli­ca­tions that could ben­e­fit high­ly from the inte­gra­tion of a laser vision sys­tem with 3D. 

Many experts believe that 3D vision sys­tems are best suit­ed for mate­r­i­al han­dling appli­ca­tions. As a mat­ter of fact, the first three on the list are part of that fam­i­ly of appli­ca­tions – bin pick­ing, pack­ag­ing and pal­letiz­ing.

Bin pick­ing is one of the most com­mon uses for a 3D vision sys­tem with three-dimen­sion­al tech­nol­o­gy. Bin pick­ing is exact­ly what it sounds like – pick­ing parts out of a bin. This may seem sim­ple enough, but when you employ 3D vision sys­tems, the robot takes on a whole new life. It can dis­tin­guish col­ors and sizes of parts to make sure it picks out the right pieces need­ed for that part of production. 

3D vision sys­tems are vital in the pack­ag­ing areas of a pro­duc­tion line, where parts come to the robot in dif­fer­ent ori­en­ta­tions or heights. With 3D vision there is no need to have mul­ti­ple pro­grams for parts that are at dif­fer­ent heights like there is with 2D vision. The vision sys­tem is able to deter­mine the part height on its own and make posi­tion­al adjust­ments accordingly. 

Anoth­er good appli­ca­tion for 3D vision is depal­letiz­ing. With 3D vision the robot is able to deter­mine how big a box or prod­uct on a pal­let is and where it is locat­ed in space. This allows the robot to deter­mine the best box­es to pick and in which order to pick them based off where they are located. 

While some experts do believe that vision sys­tems are only help­ful for mate­r­i­al han­dling appli­ca­tions, as men­tioned above, it is becom­ing more and more evi­dent that laser vision sys­tems, espe­cial­ly those that have three-dimen­sion­al capa­bil­i­ties, are becom­ing more help­ful in robot­ic weld­ing appli­ca­tions as well. 

Vision in weld­ing can help the robot adapt to small changes in the com­po­nents being weld­ed. Unlike the human eye, a 3D vision sys­tem can help guide the robot along the weld path adjust­ing for any inac­cu­ra­cies in part place­ment or fix­tur­ing issues. 

So, read­ing all this about 3D vision sys­tems has you hooked, right? You want to know who you need to speak with to get this kind of tech­nol­o­gy inte­grat­ed into your facil­i­ty? That’s easy. Con­tact Robots​.com. They are part­ners with big names in the indus­tri­al robot­ics indus­try like Fanuc, Motoman, ABB, and KUKA. These part­ner­ships give them access to up-to-date laser vision sys­tems, even those with 3D technology. 

If you would like to learn more about how Robots​.com can help you inte­grate your appli­ca­tions with 2D or 3D vision sys­tems, con­tact us online or at 877−762−6881.