Robotic End of Line Unloading at Glass Manufacturer

The Problem:

A glass fabricator was interested in a robotic system for end-of-line material handling. The application required the transfer of large glass panels from an inspection station to line-side transportation racks for further downstream operations. The application had an added layer of complexity given the variation in glass panel dimensions and the need to integrate with an existing conveyor system. While the fabricator had experience with industrial automation they desired working with an experienced integrator to help overcome the unique application challenges and prove out the feasibility to de-risk the investment.

How Invio Helped:

The Factory of the Future team led a 1-day workshop with the glass manufacturer’s team and Invio’s robotic experts. The in-person workshop was a collaborative process aimed at analyzing the core system requirements. To assess the requirements, the workshop team conducted a step by step review of the ideal sequence of operations. By analyzing the process in a collaborative way, key project risk areas like differences in SKU geometry, variations in material presentations and returnable dunnages from suppliers, and packaging requirements were uncovered.

Results:

Invio and the customer team developed an automated solution consisting of multiple articulated robots, a vision inspection system, unique end-of-arm tooling, and integration with existing infrastructure. Quality inspection of the panels at the outlet of the upstream processes provided sortation inputs. The vision system then determined the relative position of the panels on the conveyor for either a single robot or tandem pick and place into the shipment rack. Finally, intra-layer packaging materials were place after each glass panel pick by two, smaller robotic arms. By evaluating this process collaboratively in a workshop-based approach, Invio and the customer engineering team were able to significantly speed up the design and iteration timeline. Further, it is estimated that ~10-15% cost-savings were identified during the workshop-phase compared to if the Glass Manufacturer had conducted the investigation on their own.

Project Takeaways:

• Highlights

  • Quality inspection of panels at conveyor outlet provided sortation inputs

  • Vision-based inspection to determine panel position on conveyor

  • EOAT design for compatibility with protective coating applied to the panels upstream

  • Addition of intra-layer packaging materials to protect glass during transit out of the facility

• Outcomes

  • Invio developed a dual-robot concept utilizing robotic transfer units to enable loading of racks in different zones (1 working, 1 replenishing)

  • Integration of conveyor system logic with new robotic automation to include sortation / routing based on vision-inspection output