Palletization method for oversized part stacking with an industrial robotic arm
Date
2017
Authors
Driedger, Matthew
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Abstract
This work explores a novel palletization strategy for an industrial robot that allows parts to overhang from the edges of a bin while maintaining stack stability. This allows the palletizing of a larger number of parts than non-overhang methods and for palletizing parts larger than the pallets themselves. An increased emphasis was placed on stack stability and new methods of stability analysis were developed. The resulting methodology was applied to the palletization of cut-lumber parts for a wooden truss manufacturer. The method was simulated in Unity and tested on a robotic cell at the University of Manitoba Automation Laboratory. Based on these tests, the method was found to be capable of volume utilization efficiencies of over 105% +/- 5% when using traditional metrics, or 71%+/-3% when using in-bin volume utilization: a new metric developed in this thesis. The results of this work, as reported in this thesis, are very promising.
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Keywords
Palletizing, Bin Packing, Automation, Robotics