Pick and Place Robots

Choosing the Right One – Types of Pick and Place Robots

With all the various configurations available, picking the one that is most suitable for your operational process is imperative. Here are some important factors to consider:

• Number of Axes and Degree of Freedom: Generally, more axes equate to increased mobility. Consider order fulfilments, where items are placed upon a conveyor, picking bin, or a packaging container. In this scenario, four to five axes suffice. Six or more axes are chosen for jobs that require rotation or linear movement to handle tasks within their work area.
• Reach: The maximum horizontal and vertical handling space is crucial. The robot’s maximum horizontal reach is the distance from its base center to the endpoint of its customer end of the arm attachment, whereas the maximum vertical reach is from the robot’s base to the wrist’s maximum height.
• Repeatability: Repeatability is the ability to pick and drop items at the exact same position for each completed cycle. Electronic circuit boards and other high-precision jobs require perfect repeatability with a zero-tolerance radius of less than 0. 5 mm.
• Speed: Improved productivity and efficiency with the pick and place robot mean consistent material handling operations at their required rates. B2E Automation always ensures that your robotic solutions perform operations at or above your operation speed to flawlessly run peak demand periods.
• Configuration: Availability of multiple configurations such as articulate robot – fixed with rotary arms, a spherical robot with linear and rotational movements, and cylindrical robots with horizontal, vertical, and rotational axes. Despite a pick and place robots’ flexibility, dimensions, nozzles, and latitudes constrain their movement and place of deployment.
• Payload: The maximum weight (end-of-arm tool and picked product) transferred from one point to another. We ensure your pick and place solution possesses the capability to pick your heaviest inventory, fully extend its arm and place it precisely on the target location.

With the configurations mentioned above, the pick and place robots divide into:

• Robotic Arm: The most common robot type where a standard 5-axis robotic arm picks and places items on a single plane. In contrast, a 6-axis robotic arm performs more complex applications, such as twisting and re-orienting the object before placing it on the target location.
• Cartesian: Multiple plane application with movement in three orthogonal axes (X, Y, and Z Cartesian coordinates). With a better positioning accuracy than 6-axis robotic arms, we construct these robots with all types of linear actuators and drive mechanism types (belt, ball, or lead screw mechanisms).
• Delta: Utilized in group applications with placement in assembly patterns and containers, delta robots’ advanced vision enables them to distinguish size, shapes, and color variations. The most common Delta configuration is three-arms operating on four axes, with heavy motors fixed to a frame. Their lightweight arms connect to linking rods with ball joints at either end of each arm that allows movement.
• Collaborative: Collaborative robots augment human work by leading workers to pick locations and guiding them on each step. Real-time route optimizations and time management improve work efficiency.
• Fast pick: Ideal for use in medium and high-volume applications where high-velocity SKUs, such as promotional items, are available. Fast pick robots can pick up to 300 SKUs hourly from up to 8 SKU pools.