Overview
A robotic palletizing system based on a Fanuc robot was developed for a dairy production facility. The system is designed for stacking boxes weighing up to 10 kg onto pallets. The boxes are supplied from two packaging lines located on different floors. The system includes conveyor systems for feeding boxes from packaging machines, feeding empty pallets, and removing full pallets. Empty pallets are loaded as a stack, and the robot automatically picks them one by one as needed.
My Role
As a Project Manager:
Developed technical specifications for the design and delivery of conveyor systems, including product feeding systems, empty pallet feeding systems, and filled pallet removal systems, in compliance with automation requirements.
As a Mechanical Design Engineer:
Designed the gripper device.
Engineered the pallet magazine.
Prepared layout solutions.
Developed auxiliary components.
Challenges and Solutions
A specialized gripper was developed for the system, based on high-performance vacuum ejectors. These ejectors were grouped and housed in bodies manufactured using 3D printing. This significantly reduced the weight of the gripper, enabling the use of a robot with minimal payload capacity, thus optimizing costs.
The gripper is also equipped with a mechanical system for locating and picking pallets, ensuring high productivity and cost savings by simplifying the design of the pallet magazine.