KUKA Roboter GmbH receives innovation prize for logistics solution

KUKA Roboter is awarded second place in the “Innovation prize for logistics” competition

Munich, March 2006 – “Intralogistics - today - tomorrow – the future” was the motto of the 15th German Materials Flow Convention (MFK), held on 2 and 3 March 2006 at the Technical University in Munich-Garching. KUKA Roboter GmbH also had today and tomorrow in mind when they developed an innovative optical sensor system to allow industrial robots to be used in intralogistics. With this system they were awarded second place in the “Innovation prize for logistics” of the VDI Society for Materials Handling, Materials Flow and Logistics Engineering (VDI-FML), which they received in the course of the convention. Visitors to the convention could see for themselves a demonstration of the KUKA logistics solution, because the market leading supplier of industrial robots was exhibiting its demonstration cell right there.

It’s a long time since industrial robots were to be found only on car assembly lines. In recent years they have developed all-round flexible abilities, extending even to “feeling” and “seeing”. These capabilities are a great help when working in warehouses of the logistics industry. Innumerable products in many different shapes and sizes have to be handled there. Until now this was a back-breaking job for the people who knew the location and appearance of the goods; only they could stack and combine the crates of drinks and pallets of products.
KUKA Roboter GmbH has developed a sensor system which gives the robot exactly the capabilities needed to become a quick, flexible and reliable storeman. In so doing it can handle an almost unlimited range of products. Force-torque sensors and image recognition systems permit the robot to respond flexibly to the situation around it. It can recognize the position and orientation of individual packages within a layer on a pallet. It does this using a laser beam with which it scans the surface of the pallet layer.
A CCD camera allows a three-dimensional height profile to be generated. From this the process computer can then calculate a virtual gray-scale image, allowing the robot in turn to detect the edges and shapes of the objects to be picked up. With a suitable gripper system the packages can be gripped either individually or in multiples. The sensor system data are then passed to a process software system, which directs the robot and its gripper in accordance with the compiled data and the current customer order.
The system permits depalletization to order for any number of different products. Depending on the type of packages and throughput requirement, the packages can be picked up in multiples and depalletized in sequential individual placing, with intermediate reorientation of the gripper. Further profitable uses for these robots include separating layers, rearranging goods on to other pallets and sorting products. The system offers the user quick and flexible product management and delivers substantial savings in time and cost. The process is both fault-tolerant and stable.
KUKA Roboter GmbH is especially proud to receive this award because it confirms that the way it has chosen is the right one. It is the way to new technologies and ideas: working ideas.
It sees in its innovations not only a contribution to humanizing the work in this physically very demanding environment but also an important milestone on the road to automation of goods distribution centers using industrial robots.



About the KUKA Robot Group

KUKA Roboter GmbH, Augsburg, is a member of the IWKA Aktiengesellschaft Group (Karlsruhe) and ranks among the world’s leading suppliers of industrial robots. Core competencies are the development, production and sale of industrial robots, controllers, software and linear units. The company is the market leader in Germany and Europe, and the number three in the world. The KUKA Robot Group employs about 2,000 people worldwide. Of these, 1,100 are employed in Germany, either at the KUKA Robot Group headquarters in Augsburg, or at various subsidiaries. In 2004, sales totaled 425 million euro. Over 20 subsidiaries provide a presence in the rest of Europe, the US and Asia.

Contact:
KUKA Roboter GmbH
Jürgen Schulze-Ferebee, Head of Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 821 4533 3473
Fax: +49 821 797 41 3473
e-mail: juergenschulze@kuka-roboter.de
Hery-Park 3000
D-86368 Gersthofen, Germany

This release was published on openPR.