Increased reliability by effective use of sensor information: a shop floor application of sensor-aided robotic handling

This paper describes the effective use of low level sensor information to increase reliability and safety for a shop floor application of robotic palletising. The reliability of automated machinery in shop floor applications depends to a great extent on how well the system can respond to unpredictable situations. For any robotic installation one crucial factor for reliable and safe operation is The effective use of sensor information. The following article describes the key factors leading to a reliable robotic palletising operation using examples of implementation details. The palletiser is part of a highly flexible automated blending, filling and storage warehouse system at a Wellington (New Zealand) based oil company. Recent improvements based on previous shop floor experience led to a very robust operation capable of dealing with limited container variations using a simple corrective motion strategy. The control architecture is based on a concept of decentralised control differentiating between handling operations, process requirements and communications between host and sub-systems. This concept allows very short set-up times for future changes involving one or more sub-systems. The present system is user-friendly and simple to operate with status and fault messages displayed in plain English. The gantry system has been designed, implemented and commissioned by Industrial Research Limited. The updated handling system has been operating successfully in shop floor production for over two years now