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'23
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Universal Robots News
UNIVERSAL ROBOTS INTEGRATES NEW 3D VISION TOOL INTO THE UR+ ECOSYSTEM
Inbolt, a French startup specializing in the development of vision algorithms, has created a tool compatible with Universal Robots cobots to facilitate the automation of operations on moving parts.
Universal Robots recently announced the integration of GuideNOW, a real-time cobot guidance solution, into the Universal Robots+ (UR+) ecosystem. Developed by Inbolt, it combines 3D vision technology with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to facilitate the automation of tasks on parts with non-repeatable positions, in particular moving parts on assembly lines. The solution reduces costs and improves the flexibility and reliability of automation by making it possible in all types of environments: structured, semi-structured and unstructured.
The UR+ ecosystem now includes some 440 certified products, developed by more than 310 partner companies, and provides all types of solutions (screwing, gripping, Pick&Place, etc.) dedicated to industrial cobots. These solutions allow Universal Robots collaborative robots to perform various industrial tasks. Cobots are flexible, lightweight and can work in any production environment.
Requiring no programming knowledge, the GuideNOW solution includes a 3D camera mounted on the robot and AI technology, connected to the GuideNOW Studio web application allowing the cobot to locate moving parts. When the part enters the field of view of the 3D camera, the AI identifies the exact position and orientation of the mechanical part in real-time and sends new coordinates to the robot on the trajectory to be carried out. With this real-time guidance, the robot can easily adapt to its environment by reacting dynamically to unforeseen events. This is particularly useful for automating all types of operations (clamping, drilling, riveting, sanding, applying glue, etc.) on moving parts on assembly lines.
This servoing of the robot trajectory according to the position of the part allows:
- For continuous flow lines: to automate tasks that are still manual, all easily and without having to change the line's infrastructure;
- For fixed stations: to reduce the cost and improve the flexibility of these cells by eliminating costly jigs/indexing tools.
GuideNOW is characterized by its ease of installation and use: all you have to do is use the CAD modeling of the part as input data and the programming of the localization algorithm only takes about fifteen minutes.
