Intelligent gripping: technology that thinks for itself

It should be individual. One example: a custom-made room divider made from recycled oak that blends harmoniously into the room and offers maximum storage space. The optimal solution for the end customer poses challenges for carpenters and furniture construction companies. This is because they want to master this high workpiece variance in a cost-efficient manner. Traditional automation systems are usually only suitable for large series, as woodworking companies have to adapt the hardware and software to the respective production task at great expense. Batch sizes of 1 and fast product changes cannot be realized economically.

With the Solution Kit ivOS Wood, Schmalz presents a smart solution that can recognize, grip and precisely place unknown boards and furniture parts. The keyword here is intelligent gripping. This refers to the AI-supported handling of different wooden workpieces. Thanks to the perfect combination of 3D vision sensors, the appropriate gripping technology and artificial intelligence (AI), the system identifies the sheets without the need for programming or manual intervention. The AI segments the workpieces to be gripped and independently selects the gripping strategy and control of the suction cups. It takes over the entire process planning, calculates the best stopping point and controls the robot collision-free until it reaches its destination. If the requirements in production change, the software optimizes the parts handling and continuously expands the range of workpieces detected and the processes that can be executed. This provides operations with a future-proof system.

With the Solution Kit ivOS Wood, companies benefit from optimized processes and can deploy their staff for more value-adding activities. This enables them to achieve significant cost benefits. Whether large or small series or individual pieces - processing systems such as nesting CNC milling machines, painting systems and edge banding machines can be fed and stacked automatically.