ABB launches robotic depalletising solution

ABB has launched its ABB Robotic Depalletizer, a solution for handling complex depalletising tasks in the logistics, e-commerce, healthcare and consumer packaged goods industries. Using machine vision software, the solution can quickly assess a wide variety of box types, enabling users to efficiently process assorted loads with very little engineering effort and short set-up time.

The robotic depalletiser software uses the information gathered by vision sensor to provide the robot with a suitable grasping point for each box. The robot then picks up the box — weighing up to 30 kg — and places it on either another pallet or an outfeed conveyor. The speed and accuracy of the system enables it to work at a peak rate of up to 650 cycles per hour, 24 hours a day.

The vision sensor enables the robot to detect specific carton boxes on pallets, allowing reliable depalletising of several different load types. These include pallets comprised of a single type of box in defined layers; ‘rainbow’ pallets containing a number of different box types; and mixed pallets, which have a wide range of boxes with varying weights, shapes and materials.

The solution can be supplied with a range of four- and six-axis robots to provide the flexibility required to perform either simple or more complex depalletising tasks. ABB’s RobotStudio digital twin software is also available, allowing users to build bespoke application simulations with their own box dimensions, weights and pallet patterns.