With Eyes, perception in 2.5D is possible, OnRobot announced. This means that, in addition to length and width, the system also maps the height of workpieces to a certain extent. It is easy to operate and can be easily integrated into existing applications, for example in CNC machine loading or picking tasks.

"Flexibility is important to our customers: they don't want to be tied to a specific starting position for workpieces when automating processes," explains Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO of OnRobot. In many pick-and-place tasks, cobots have to grip individual workpieces that are arranged, shaped or sized differently. To ensure that the robot arm still positions the parts evenly, users have previously resorted to holding devices, parts conveyors or other hardware. This is expensive and increases changeover times. "Our vision system now finally allows users to operate free of parts conveyors and other devices," says Krog Iversen. "This allows them to flexibly adapt their production to new requirements and thus master challenges such as smaller batch sizes or a greater variety of variants."

Loading CNC machines more efficiently

Eyes is ideal for sorting workpieces or loading CNC machines. The system is also advantageous for other pick-and-place applications for which orientation is an important prerequisite - for example palletizing. "2.5D is currently becoming the perfect technology for vision-based applications," explains Krog Iversen. "Compared to 2D, the cobot recognizes the height of an object as well as its length and width, which is important, for example, when it has to deal with parts of different sizes or stack workpieces."

In contrast to comparable vision systems, Eyes only requires a single image for calibration and part recognition. The system also has an automatic focus and can therefore work at different distances within the same application. It can be mounted both on the joint of the robot arm and elsewhere in the room. Where the application is best mounted depends on the application in question.

User-friendly and quick to integrate

The 2.5D vision from Eyes is compatible with cobots from all leading manufacturers thanks to the One System Solution from OnRobot. This means it can be integrated into existing production environments and programmed easily. Users save time and also benefit from a fast ROI. Programming is also simple and requires no special prior knowledge. "Eyes is much more user-friendly than comparable image processing systems," states Krog Iversen. "This is extremely important to us, because we want to make automation as simple as possible and therefore accessible to as many users as possible."

Use with a double gripper also works without any problems, as Eyes automatically configures the tool center point. This allows users to shorten their throughput times and make optimum use of their production capacities.