ABB Robotics to Demo Item Pickers with New AI Capabilities at PACK Expo 2022

ABB Robotics is a pioneer in robotics, machine automation and digital services, and will exhibit innovative solutions for a diverse range of industries at Booth #S-3574 at Pack Expo International in Chicago, Oct. 23-26. ABB’s booth will be adjacent to that of B&R Automation, a member of the ABB Group.

ABB Robotics will demonstrate an item picker that helps customer automate order picking and sorter induction operations, and fulfills ABB’s vision of a fully automated warehouse, combining automated storage with automated order picking. Advanced software leveraging new internally developed artificial intelligence allows the robot to learn and adapt to a wide variety of items including cuboids, cylinders, pouches, blisters, and random shapes, as found in electronics, pharma, healthcare, cosmetics and other consumer product industries.

ABB’s internally developed AI solution provides unprecedented accuracy in picking items from unstructured scenery, and is designed for high throughput applications.  Thanks to reduced computing time, the solution achieves peak pick rates of up to 1,500 items per hour.  This technology is designed to support order picking, replenishment, receipt picking, fashion sorter equipping, and is intended for system integrators serving e-commerce, logistics, healthcare and  consumer products businesses, as well as end customers, including 3PL, eCommerce and fulfillment centers.

ABB & B&R Technologies Demo Cell

In this demo cell, multiple ABB and B&R technologies are leveraged (IRB 360 FlexPicker, ACOPOStrak, ACOPOS 6D, B&R Integrated Machine Vision) to simulate a batch size one process. A B&R Smart Camera is used to identify physical product information such as orientation, position, color and type to correctly route the ACOPS 6D shuttles to the IRB 360 FlexPicker to fulfil custom orders delivered to ACOPOStrak. All while maintaining high speed throughput, track and trace and adaptability to last second order changes.

ACOPOS 6D Transport Technology is ideal for small-batch production with frequent changeover between products of different designs and dimensions:

• Based on the principle of magnetic levitation, Shuttles with integrated permanent magnets float over the surface of electromagnetic motor segments.
• Shuttles carry individual products freely in two-dimensional space, rotate and tilt along three axes and offer precise control over the height of levitation. All together that gives the shuttles six degrees of motion control freedom.
• Enables economic small-batch production with frequent changeover between different products.
• The modular motor segments are 240 x 240 millimeters in size and can be arranged freely in any shape. A variety of shuttle sizes carry payloads of 0.6 to 14 kilograms and reach speeds of up to 2 meters per second.

About ABB Robotics

ABB Robotics is a pioneer in robotics, machine automation and digital services, providing innovative solutions for a diverse range of industries, from automotive to electronics to logistics. As one of the world’s leading robotics and machine automation suppliers, ABB Robotics employs more than 11,000 people in 53 countries and has shipped more than 500,000 robot solutions.

Learn more at go.abb/robotics.