Students: Sjoerd Rosier, Mark Hamberg, Sander Otto and Matthijs de Keyser (2024)
Introduction:
De Vreede Techniek, a specialized player in horticultural technology solutions, supports the way horticulture businesses operate through innovative systems and robotics. Specializing in advanced automation for greenhouse operators and plant growers, the company focuses on improving efficiency, reducing labour costs, and optimizing plant transportation and cultivation processes. By integrating robotics and smart technology, De Vreede Techniek is committed to helping businesses enhance productivity and streamline their operations in the ever-evolving horticulture industry.
Problem statement:
In the current situation without automation, several issues arise when assembling Danish trolleys in the horticulture sector. While no specific skills are required for this task, it is physically exhausting and monotonous, leading to decreased employee motivation and productivity. The reliance on manual labour for these repetitive tasks results in slower work speeds and inconsistent performance, as human fatigue plays a role. Furthermore, the shrinking labour market is becoming an increasing challenge, making it harder to find enough workers willing to perform these tedious and labour intensive jobs. This limits businesses’ ability to scale up production and improve operational efficiency, ultimately leading to higher costs and reduced profitability
Solution:
The Danish Trolley Builder offers an efficient solution to the challenges faced in the horticulture sector. By automating the assembly process, the system reduces labor dependency and increases production speed. This eliminates bottlenecks and ensures consistent, reliable performance. Additionally, automation reduces monotonous and physically demanding tasks, simplifying scaling and allowing businesses to improve efficiency and focus more effectively on growth.
How the product works:
The automated Danish Trolley Builder system follows a series of precise steps to assemble the trolley efficiently and consistently. After the robotic arm picks up the base of the trolley, it places it in a dedicated holder that serves as the foundation for the rest of the assembly process. The next step is detecting the poles that will be positioned at the corners of the trolley. This is done using a light sensor that accurately determines the location of the poles.
Once the poles are detected, the robotic arm places them in position with a slanted motion, ensuring they are securely fixed into the holder. To maintain the stability and accuracy of the assembly, a positioning system is used to keep the poles in place throughout the process.
After the poles are set, the robotic arm picks up a shelf. These shelves are stacked on a Danish trolley, and the arm carefully picks up the top one to lift. The shelf is then placed on the poles at the designated height.
The system also allows for customizable parameters. The user can set the starting hole on the pole for the first shelf, specify the number of holes between each shelf, and determine the total number of shelves. Additionally, the system provides an error message if the trolley height limit is exceeded, ensuring that safety standards are maintained and the process runs smoothly.
Major decisions:
During the design and development process of the automated Danish Trolley builder, several major decisions were made. One of the key decisions was to design a custom End-Of-Arm Tooling (EOAT). This customized EOAT system was specifically designed to assemble all parts of the trolley, such as the base, poles, and shelves, using the same system. This allows the robotic arm to efficiently pick up and place the various components without needing additional tooling adjustments. This significantly simplifies the process and enhances the reliability of the assembly.
Additionally, there was an initial plan to implement a buffer station for the poles. This module would classify the poles for suitability and determine the correct orientation before they were used in the system. However, due to time constraints, the realization of this buffer station was not completed. Integrating such a system would ensure that only properly suitable poles are processed.
Adding a buffer station remains a key future improvement to further optimize the efficiency of the system.