Logistics centres don’t send pallets of single items, but shipments of mixed items. Huge trucks deliver items to the logistics centre and someone must unload the truck. During the unloading of the truck, each item must be registered and then stored. For this purpose Universal Robots and Mujin Corp created an automated system.
With the help of its partner Mujin Corp, Universal Robots demonstrated an intelligent palletising operation. The robotic mixed-case depalletising system with intelligent buffering demonstrates how intelligent robotic systems can execute difficult picking and packing operations without requiring extensive programming.
Mujin says its controller combines 3D perception, real-time motion planning and dexterous grasping. Reportedly, Mujin Machine Intelligence used in the controller enables robots to make effective real-time decisions. Depalletising systems allow the cobots to buffer and re-sequence boxes without the need for upstream equipment.
The depalletiser used Universal Robots’ UR16e model with a payload of 16 kg/35.3 lbs. and an integrated FXCB gripper from Schmalz in a demonstration of the Mujin system at Modex 2022.
This demonstration showcases the intelligent depalletisation technology developed by Mujin and Universal Robots, as well as how the system’s digital twin tracks the objects being picked and placed, as well as the potential impact on the surrounding environment.
According to Ross Diankov, co-founder and chief technology officer of Mujin, robots are getting smarter and new applications are now available, such as mixed case depalletising. All warehouses have to do with Mujin’s solutions is send the boxes directly to the robots, which will re-sequence them before placing them on the pallet.
UR provides flexibility, ease of use and ready-to-deploy tools that make it simple for manufacturers to automate almost any repetitive task. Mujin joins forces with UR to bring these same benefits to the warehouse.
Mujin’s powerful real-time motion planning and 3D vision technology, according to Cloer, can automate the implementation of challenging applications such as mixed case handling, sortation and order fulfilment.
Customers rely on logistics centres to handle daily delivery, which is unpredictable and cannot be predicted in advance. This is a flexible and accurate automated solution with cost-effective collaborative robots.
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