Smart Lightweight Construction Researchers Make Robots fit for Picking with Digital Twins

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FAULHABER Drive Systems

Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

As a universal work machine, robots are conquering more and more areas. However, working as a picking system is not trivial. Researchers in Stuttgart (Germany) are currently changing that.

The use of robotic systems focuses on relieving employees from repetitive and physically demanding tasks. However, mixed picking in the warehouse presents a particular challenge for a robotic system. Handling heavy individual weights from often non-ergonomic positions places an enormous strain on employees. At the same time, finding new workers for these tasks is very difficult. Because mixed picking requires handling many different types of items—thus demanding high flexibility—this field is very challenging for automation systems. There are also hardly any existing systems in this area. As a subsidiary of robomotion, Premium Robotics is now developing an innovative lightweight robot designed to automate this type of logistics process.

Digital Twin Makes Lightweight Robots Precise

The robotic system developed there represents a scalable alternative that can be integrated into existing warehouses, thus relieving staff accordingly. For fail-safe operation, precise knowledge of the robot's TCP (tool center point) position is necessary. The compliance due to the lightweight design poses a particular challenge because deviations of the TCP cannot be directly detected. These deviations are to be compensated to improve accuracy. To achieve this, a digital twin is being developed as part of a research project, which can model the robotic system with varying model depth, taking into account different physical and elastic effects. It is intended to be used throughout the entire product development and lifecycle. The models are to be used both in the development phase for the design of mechanical assemblies and for innovative algorithms for drive control. Additionally, the digital twin allows for the cyclical optimization of existing control parameters during the operation of the system, as well as monitoring changes to the system for predictive maintenance.

Development Partnership Between Research and Industry

In this research project, two institutes of the University of Stuttgart are cooperating: the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW) and the Institute of Technical and Numerical Mechanics (ITM) with two companies. These are ISG Industrial Control Technology and robomotion. Together, they are addressing the challenges of lightweight construction and the development of a digital twin. The following introduces the innovative robotic system by Premium Robotics, for which the mentioned models are being developed.