3D Vision sensor

Hi All

I have a small job where we would like to destack a stack of pallets

I would like to use a 3D sensor to give me the position of the top pallet X, Y and Z
And the rotation around Z

So far I have learned I need a accuracy on repeatability around 5mm on 5 meter

Anyone who has any experience with a good sensor that will do the job?

Thanks
Holmux

The best off the shelf solutions we've found so far has been the Keyence RB bin picking system, or the Visio Nerf system. Those will run you around $50k. Otherwise, you have to roll your own with something like the Solomon. None of those systems will give you 5mm at 5meters. You'd likely have to mount the sensor at the end of the robot and have it scan the stack to get that kind of accuracy.

I have a feeling I will have to breakdown the picture my self, to get it down in price.

At the moment I am looking at SICK Visionary-T Mini, it has the resolution I need, but the trick here is to get the data over in my PLC.

The price is $2K, so its in the other end of the scale

I have looked at the SICK Visionary-T Mini as well, but the sensor doesn't communicate on any industrial protocol, so you need an industrial PC for communication.

For pallets what we typically do is scan it with a distance laser, pick the pallet and then put it on a re-grip stand that uses gravity to position the pallet and then we can grip it again. Our pallets can be off by 6" and we'll get very repeatable results.

I would look at something like baref00t is talking about. We have done some visions systems before and they did what we needed them to do for inspections.

My personal opinion on vision system is that they can do great things if it is the same thing evetime, but if you can do it another way you will probably save your self time, headache and money.

The biggest thing with visions system is that you lighting must be very consistent or you will fight your application running smoothly.

We have a palletizing system with a robot that picks up the empty pallets from a stack. The stack is butted up against 3 vertical guides so that it's consistent X and Y axes. For height, the robot has an ultrasonic sensor on the end effector that turns on about a foot above the top pallet. That signals the robot to slow down. Then, there's a capacitive sensor that tells the robot when to stop and activate the grippers.
In the past, I've found it worthwhile to make other parts of the process a little more involved to greatly simplify the job of the sensors. Makes for a more reliable system in general.

Keystone said:

The biggest thing with visions system is that you lighting must be very consistent or you will fight your application running smoothly.

Click to expand...

I've only done one vision project but I can't agree with this point enough.

Would not recommend any type of system which requires a PC to run it. Nightmare to maintain later in life, especially at a large company with lots of IT protections and departments.

Just a quick update

I manage to get the IFM O3D3 sensor to solve the task

Using Profinet from the sensor direct to the plc