From manual box filling to a fully automatic filling process
- Building & construction
- PLC / PC programming
- Vision and measurement systems
Our customer was looking for a solution to place products in boxes. Previously, these boxes were filled by hand. Together with the customer, Elenco developed a machine to automate this process.
Vision-guided robotics & delta robot
We started by mapping the possible bottlenecks that could stand in the way of automating this project. We quickly noticed that the boxes contain loose cardboard dividers whose positions can vary. This made it impossible to place the products in fixed positions in the box. So the decision to use vision-guided robotics was an obvious one. We also added a camera to the set-up, which made it possible to detect the dividers in the cardboard box. This detection method is used to place the products perfectly in the middle of each compartment, without any damage. Cycle time was also critical in this project, so we chose an ultra-fast delta robot.
Elenco delivered this project to the customer as a turnkey solution.
Once the plans were ready, we immediately ordered the necessary materials, after which our engineers rolled up their sleeves. The PLC and camera software was developed entirely in-house. The machine was then built and tested in our workshop, and as a final step, the complete set-up was moved abroad and installed.
Multidisciplinary approach
Thanks to our multidisciplinary approach, this project was completed successfully. Combining automation, robotics and cameras is one of our strengths. As an extra, a Wi-Fi access point was built into the control panel so the customer can operate the machine with a tablet. In addition, we can securely monitor the machine from our office in Genk if any faults occur, and we can update the software remotely.
This machine now fills boxes continuously at the target rate of 2.3 seconds per product, and we have gained another satisfied customer.
