Simple Pick and Stack Robot

I'm a woodworker with more than 20 years experience as a computer programmer and a master's degree in computer science with an emphasis on computer vision (though the vision part was a long time ago). I do not have a lot of experience in robotic sourcing or electronics though I've programmed pre-constructed robots a little. I've programmed simple pneumatics/solenoids and rotary encoders with Arudino. I say that to let you know you aren't working with an amateur who won't understand what you're talking about when you run into problems or questions, especially programming issues. I can't help much with the electronics or sourcing the robotics parts, though I know how to find [login to view URL] and mcmaster.com.

I'm also very short of time, as I'm running a woodworking business. What I want is a robot that will pick up items off of an assembly line and stack them up. The items are light wood 2" x 3.5" x 3/8" thick. The robot needs vision or robust (dust resistant) sensors to know when there is an item that needs picking up. It then needs to use a suction cup to pick the piece up and move it to several stacks (perhaps rows and columns of stacks if that's not too hard). A human will then move the stacks out of the way. So there needs to be some method of either detecting that things have been moved, or at least a button for resetting the program back to zero when the items have been moved. I prefer an Arduino based system for this, though I will entertain other approaches. The robot needs to be pretty fast as the chips (the little blocks of wood) come off the line at about 110-150 items per minute pushed by a Co-Matic DC70 Variable Speed Feeder set at 18 feet/min which is already set up. The pieces are right next to each other and are at a predictable location and orientation. I'm picturing something along the lines of a rapid 3d printer type frame with a suction cup head (maybe 2 to prevent rotation?), some kind of solenoid for controlling the vacuum of the suction cup head, and movement in x, y and z to neatly stack the blocks. I'd also be open to discussing other configurations, i.e. See "High-Speed Pick & Place Robots by Bastian Solutions" on Youtube.

I'd like to be able to stack 504 blocks before having to clear the destination workspace. A stack of 504 chips is approximately 17" x 13" x 8" if packed tightly (optional).

I would assume that the xyz table would be run with standard g-code, though perhaps there would have to be a program dynamically creating the g-code from the sensors/vision system. I'm not certain exactly how you would integrate the dynamic parts with the g-code, that's one reason I'm hiring you.

The blocks will be moving at around 18 feet per minute and need to be picked up on the fly as other blocks will be right behind it pushing them forward.

To be clear, I want you to build the robot, source parts, provide sourcing information for the parts, assemble the robot, program the robot, ship the robot to me and remotely oversee the installation of the robot which I will do myself.

I want good documentation including full schematics of the electronics parts and wiring diagrams. I need enough documentation for the robotics parts to facilitate maintenance of the robot.

I will provide pictures of the environment and further details as necessary.

I am entirely open to using open source software AND releasing what we build to the open source community. I just need it to work, I don't need to own the design or software. I do of course need rights to use it.

I'm not married to a computer vision solution, but I've had bad luck with many sensors in this environment.

If this is a successful project, there is more robotics work to be done and I'm looking for a relationship resulting in doing a lot of work, not just this one off project. Experience building a 3d printer or home brew CNC machine, a variety of sensors and computer vision are very helpful. I will very happily work with teams.

Good luck!

Robotic Process Automation Robotikë Arduino Elektronikë CNC Programming

ID Projekti: #24676747

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