Palletizing and depalletizing are two workhorse robotic applications within automated assembly and also packaging. Just when I figured it was a mature technology, companies are releasing innovative new products. This news comes from OnRobot who has released OnRobot Palletizer described as “a complete collaborative palletizing solution designed to take the physical and financial pain out of palletizing processes.”
OnRobot Palletizer lets users choose a palletizing system that works for their specific application needs thanks to its space saving footprint, and ability to handle many different types of boxes, packages, patterns, pallets and stacking heights. Compatible with collaborative robot and light industrial robots from the Doosan, FANUC, OMRON, Techman, and Universal Robots brands, the OnRobot Palletizer is available as a complete out-of-the-box system or as individual components to create a mix-and-match solution.
The OnRobot Palletizer includes four new hardware and software products:
OnRobot Palletizing, intuitive palletizing software that guides users through the entire deployment from start to finish via a single intelligent interface for all components. Once the physical hardware is in place and secured, the end-user or integrator simply opens OnRobot Palletizing to receive step-by-step guidance through the process of setting up a palletizing application. Using OnRobot Palletizing, an inexperienced end-user can set up a full palletizing application in a day, versus 12 or more days using conventional programming software.
The OnRobot 2FGP20, a powerful, versatile, electric palletizing gripper with a 20 kg payload and customizable arms that can handle standard cardboard boxes as well as open boxes and shelf-ready products while also handling slip sheets without changing the gripper or requiring additional handling; no external air supply required.
The OnRobot Lift100, a robust elevator with a total payload of 100 kg that provides a 7th axis for cobot and lightweight industrial robot brands; TÜV-certified stop-functionality facilitates safe and effective collaborative deployments; provides safe and precise positioning even at high speeds.
The OnRobot Pallet Station, durable floor mounted pallet fixtures designed to ensure consistent positioning; each comes with a built-in sensor for detecting pallet presence.
“Small and midsized companies need palletizing automation that is easy to use, fast to deploy and affordable – even if the application changes over time,” says Enrico Krog Iversen, CEO of OnRobot. “OnRobot Palletizer combines fast deployment times with a small footprint and the best price point in the market – all using our application-focused approach that gives customers much more flexibility than traditional approaches. OnRobot Palletizer can be deployed out-of-the-box and with minimal disruption to existing factory and warehouse layouts.”
OnRobot Palletizing software “significantly reduces the set-up time needed to have the application running,” says Adrián Pérez Martínez, CTO & Co-Founder at Neobotik, an automation integrator based in Huelva, Spain, one of the sites where OnRobot Palletizer was tested prior to launch. “It is so easy to install all the hardware and software when doing the initial set up of the cell. And the graphical user interface makes it possible even for non-expert programmers to program a full palletizer solution.”
OnRobot Palletizer has three main advantages over existing palletizing automation, explains Martínez: “It’s fast to deploy. It has an easy-to-use programming interface. And the gripper weight is optimal, making the solution ideal for a wide range of collaborative palletizing applications, including in industries such as food and beverage, where there is a high flow of open boxes ready to be palletized and gripping the boxes using a traditional vacuum gripper is not possible.”
