Students: Erik Endlich, Salvatore Cahyo Muliajati, Quinten Oudijn (2024)
ROPAX ANNOUNCES INNOVATIVE SOLUTION TO INTEGRATE WITH THEIR EXISTING AUTOMATION
Client: ROPAX
Delft, The Netherlands – 2nd February 2025
Summary
Ropax introduces a new integration to its existing automation system. This innovative solution will increase productivity and efficiency. With this innovation, Ropax can run multiple robots simultaneously with the minimum number of employees.
Problems
Depalletizing multiple stack bricks between multiple robots requires many employees despite the company’s priority of reducing the number of employees. The company aims to use the minimum number of workers with various robots running simultaneously. Additionally, the robot must be compact enough to fit in small spaces when used on a lifted platform.
Solutions
- Detecting the brick, its type, and the orientation
The brick is detected using an Intel® RealSense™ D400 series camera mounted in the robot end-of-arm using the YOLO machine learning model to run the detection. The datasets were designed to account for the field conditions with many variables affecting the detection, such as sunlight glare, shadow, and low-light environment. Additionally, the model was trained to detect types of bricks based on their positions, either standing or lying. This ensures that the bricks will always be in the same position regardless of how the pallet is stacked. Moreover, we create algorithms to detect the brick rotation to increase the accuracy of picking up the brick.
- Picking up the bricks
We designed our customized end-of-arm tool to pick up both brick types using suction. The robot approaches the brick just shortly above its center point, and using the robot’s force feedback, it finds how it pressed the end-of-arm with the brick. After sufficient force is detected, the robot activates the suction and continues through its pickup cycle.
- Putting it in a buffer
As we went through the project, we realized we needed something to store the bricks instead of directly putting them on the robot. We made a buffer with a plan that the buffer would be integrated into an autonomous rover to move it to the robot. In addition, we were required to place the brick in a single orientation. We place the brick in two ways:
- Belly brick: when the camera detected the belly brick the robot will put the brick on the side by rotating the head.
- Side brick: when the camera detects a side brick the robot will put the brick just in this orientation in the buffer.
There are two ways to put the bricks in the buffer.
- Bring bricks to pax-robot
Once the buffer is full of 15 bricks, a robot rover comes, and with the help of two conveyor belts, the bricks are rolled out of the buffer and onto the rover. The rover drives to the pax robot, and once this robot is empty, it connects to it and uses the conveyors again to put the bricks in the pax robot.
Customer Quote:
“We were impressed by the outcome of the project completed by the SMR student. They demonstrated the ability to swiftly translate a set of requirements and constraints into a functional prototype. Throughout the project, they successfully overcame numerous challenges, including the design and construction of a suitable suction gripper for masonry bricks and the integration of a 3D camera for vision. They have laid a solid foundation for further work by tackling several hurdles.”