Haruna Eto

High-speed and compact depalletizing robot capable of handling packages stacked complicatedly

For a depalletizing robot to be practical, it has to be able to work skillfully in a limited space with a depalletizinging speed equal to or exceeding that of a human. Our new robot has the following advantages. A gantry robot and a telescopic arm mechanism are adopted so that the robot, although space-saving, has a large workspace. Using camera image and depth image, the robot recognizes the various package stacked complicatedly and decides the handling order of the package. The robot generates the most suitable handling path and performs handling control such that stacks do not collapse. The robot achieves fall prevention of the package and stable conveyance by supporting beneath the package with another arm, the conveyor arm. Moreover, in order to accelerate processing of packages, we thought it was important for the robot to be equipped with a wide end effector capable holding multiple packages simultaneously. Therefore we developed a depalletizing simulator and performed the optimal design of the end effector by using a simulator. This, we were able to realize a compact depalletizing robot with a depalletizing speed equal to that of a human.