Acrovision is an experienced integrator of industrial barcode reading and camera vision inspection systems and have expanded their automation solutions to include collaborative robots. The company is beginning to see that cobots are having quite the revolutionary effect on vision systems.

The company’s cobot offering comes from AUBO Robotics, and Acrovision is the sole distributor of these products including the AUBO-i5. Integrating cobots into vision applications is providing a safe and cost-effective solution in many instances, where the product handling is an issue or prohibitively expensive.

The key advantage of using cobots is that as well as being very easy to program, they are also inherently safe to allow them to work with and alongside humans, (subject to risk assessment). No longer the need for expensive and unsightly safety guarding requirements.

Applications include providing the robot with x-y coordinates for pick-and-place. On these occasions, the camera is either fixed to the robot or positioned above the item(s) to be picked. Once triggered, the camera provides the robot with the relevant co-ordinates to accurately pick the part. This has been a problem when multiple parts are mixed up randomly, touching or overlapping. With the advent of recent vision algorithm improvements, ‘messy picking’ as it is sometimes called, has now become more reliable.

The next vision/cobot application is where the robot needs to be guided to a particular location, with the camera attached to it. This can be in various stages i.e. the camera looks for an approximate position to guide the robot to and when it gets closer then looks for a more accurate target.

Finally, the use of a robot with a vision system could dramatically reduce the cost of the overall project. Imagine the scenario where the customer needs to inspect multiple components over a very wide field of view. One option is to use multiple smart cameras or multiple ‘dumb’ cameras working with a PC Vision setup. Both are relatively expensive solutions.

Now consider the use of a single cobot with a single camera to carry out multiple tasks one after another. Of course, cycle time needs to be considered, but due to the reducing price of such robots, the overall cost could now be far lower, particularly when the supply and installation cost of frames and brackets for the cameras are taken into account.

Similarly, when an application requires a 2D or 3D vision system, either the camera or the part needs to be moved. Why not do it with a collaborative ‘friend’?

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The AUBO-i5 collaborative robot has a 5kg payload and a 924mm reach, it is extremely simple to install and commission and quick to configure. The AUBO-i5 works closely within the human environment, subject to a risk assessment undertaken, without safety equipment or obtrusive safety guarding.

With a high ±0.05mm position repeatability that makes it suitable for precision tasks, the AUBO-i5 is a lightweight (just 24kg), versatile, flexible, robot which has been designed with user friendly functions. The AUBO-i5 can be programmed to perform a diverse range of automatic handling activities, where the implementation of a low cost complete robot system provides an exceptionally quick Return on Investment.

The robot has a ‘Guide to teach’ function that enables quick and easy programming (no programming skills needed). The AUBO i5 design’s safety features include the power and force limiting protective stop – the robot arm stops if limits are exceeded or a collision is detected.

The AUBO-i5 can easily be integrated into existing production systems and it is possible to re-purpose, re-deploy and or re-invent applications with the same robot. Acrovision can also provide the expertise required to easily integrate a vision system into the robot’s operation.

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