As part of their technician project, Tim Klein, Tobias Bux, and Maximilian Strobel are working on a challenging initiative: the commissioning and integration of a bin picking system for industrial applications. Supervised by Raphael Hörner, Stefan Hieber, and Tobias Frankenreiter, each technician is investing up to 200 hours to develop this system.

The goal is to create an automated solution that detects unsorted components in a bin, safely picks them, and organizes them into magazines – all while ensuring machine safety and modularity.

How Does the Bin Picking System Work?

1. Component Detection:
   A 3D camera scans a predefined area containing a bin with unsorted components. Using 3D recognition, the camera identifies the most optimal component to pick and transmits its spatial coordinates to the robot. Based on this data, the camera calculates the robot’s optimal path.
2. Precise Gripping:
   The robot moves to the specified position and picks the component using a custom-designed vacuum gripper to ensure a secure grip. The PLC checks the vacuum pressure value and confirms to the robot that the component is securely grasped before proceeding.
3. Alignment and Inspection:
   Next, the robot transports the component to a position detection station and places it there. A new camera image verifies whether a logo is visible on the component. If a logo is detected, the component is directly placed into the magazine. If no logo is visible, the robot regrips the component, moves it to an alignment station, and adjusts it so that the logo is oriented correctly for the magazine.
4. Magazine Placement:
   Finally, the component is neatly stacked in the magazine. An internal counter continuously monitors the magazine’s fill level.

This innovative project demonstrates the technicians’ ability to merge theory with practice while addressing complex challenges in industrial automation.