Picking and placing parts for assembly or packaging is considered simple, but these repetitive, monotonous tasks can harm employees (physical and mental). For situations like this, continuous motion assembly machines and pick and place robots are an ideal solution. These systems can move small, large, and hard-to-handle parts. Automating this process offers multiple benefits to manufacturers.
How do pick and place robots work?
These automated assembly machines are mounted on a stand that allows the robot to reach the entire workstation. Parts enter the work envelope (conveyor belt or in a bin). Vision inspection technology allows robots to quickly and accurately identify parts based on designated characteristics (color, shape, size, and more). When products or parts do not meet standards, the system gets rid of the mistake. The robot grabs and moves objects from one place to another location and position. Robots are commonly found on continuous motion assembly machines.
The most common applications of pick and place robots include:
Bin Picking
Robots are used to select parts that are presented in a bin. The robot is smart enough to find the correct part and orientation, even when parts are placed in the bin randomly. Automated assembly machines benefit from this action.
Part Sorting
Vision inspection tools allow pick and place robots to select and sort parts based on different characteristics, like size, shape, color, and barcode. The system then places parts in desired locations at specified orientations.
Assembly
These robots are found in many different types of assembly applications. They are designed to join, place, fix, and insert incoming components with another part.
Related Reading
- What can Automated Assembly Machines do for Your Business
Adding automated assembly machinery to a manufacturing process has always been time-consuming and capital-intensive to implement. In the short run, they are more expensive to set up and run than manual labor.
- Important Automated Assembly Machine Design Questions
- Using Continuous Motion Assembly Machines to Create PPE