Bättre arbetsmiljö med Random Bin Picking

The machining of crankcase halves involves many different geometrically advanced parts that operators manually pick up and place in different pallets, a job that is both monotonous and associated with some risk. A higher degree of automation was required, both to improve the working environment and to be able to meet increased demand.

Husqvarna is one of the world's largest chainsaw manufacturers, with extensive experience in producing professional forest, park and garden products. At the company's site in Huskvarna, cutting, clearing and chainsaws are made, and the manufacture of the saws' crankcases is a step that involves a lot of goods and with many details in circulation. The crankcase halves that make up the frame of the crankcases come in about ten different models, and traditionally their processing has involved a lot of manual picking in and out of pallets: a monotonous job that is not risk-free for the operators.

"When we started to look at how we could improve processing, we came up with the bin picking idea. We saw that with the help of robots it would be possible to pick up and put down these geometrically complex products randomly from a pallet," says Anders Nordlund, project manager at Husqvarna.

ABB's solution for Random Bin Picking combines a ABB robot with gripper technology and market-leading technology in 3D vision. The ability to recognize an object in any orientation allows parts to be placed randomly on a pallet, without the need for manual sorting or arranging.

More efficient and a better working environment

Random Bin Picking makes it possible to automate industrial processes that have previously been difficult to automate, such as the fast and accurate handling of articles in boxes. In addition to streamlining production significantly, Husqvarna has seen several other advantages with Random Bin Picking.

"The operators don't have to bend their backs by manually picking in and out of the pallets to put items on conveyor belts. It's about tens of thousands of products every year. That way we get a better working environment," says Anders Nordlund.

"Another advantage is that we can run the cell for a long time without an operator having to be present. We can load an entire pallet into the machine and run up to a shift without anyone having to change pallets."

Advantage with proximity to service and support

Husqvarna has a long tradition of automation. Thanks to Random Bin Picking, the degree of automation has now been raised another step. And it doesn't have to stop there, in the future we see further opportunities within Random Bin Picking, such as building on quality control and automatically delivering details between different process steps within the factory.