Case Studies

Industry diversity

Industrial robots are needed in almost all industries. This increasingly requires the use of 3D vision solutions. By using deep learning algorithms, the vision system from Mech-Mind Robotics is extremely flexible and can be easily adapted to the requirements of the respective industry. 

Steal treatment: Loading and Unloading of Train Wheels

Train wheels that are either red-hot or with a reflective surface can be a big challenge for vision-guided automation. Mech-Eye 3D cameras can generate high quality point cloud data of these objects, even under strong ambient light interference of >30,000 lux. With the included intelligent path planning and collision detection, the picking of the train wheels by the robot runs stable and reliable.

Pet food industry: Case Depalletizing and Palletizing

Optimizing the inbound and outbound processes by using vision guided depalletizing and palletizing solutions can be so easy. The system can be used for random pallets and picks the cases layer by layer. This prevents the cases from toppling. Without the need for pre-learning, it can quickly adapt to new cases. Thanks to the intelligent planning of offset suction caps and partitions to grab, a maximum number of cases can be picked at once, increasing the efficiency.

Construction equipment manufacturer: Steel Plate Picking and Bending

The 3D vision system identifies randomly-stacked steel plates and guides the robot to pick and transport them to a specified area for bending. Even rust stains on the plates and complex-shaped parts are no problem for the Mech-Eye 3D cameras to generate high-quality point clouds. Intelligent path planning and collision detection algorithms guarantee a reliable and stable performance.

Automotive industry:
Machine tending of crankshafts

Due to their complex structure and reflective surface, crankshafts represent a major challenge for automation processes. Mech-Mind Robotics was able to meet the high requirements of its customer: With the help of a high-precision anti-reflective camera from the Mech-Eye series and AI-supported machine vision, the robot detects the optimal gripping point of the heavy metal objects stacked in a container, picks them up individually and places them safely on the conveyor belt.

Automotive industry: Assembly of wheels

Automation solutions for wheel assembly usually do not fullfill the flexibility requirements of the production line because they require a fixed wheel and assembly position. The solution from Mech-Mind Robotics, on the other hand, can precisely localize both tire and assembly position. Incoming tires are automatically matched to the specified vehicle body and the wheels are mounted in motion. In addition, the system allows the assembly of a wide range of wheel models without the need to adapt the fixtures. 

Automotive industry: Bin Picking of inner gears

[Translate to Englisch:]

Challenging lighting and harsh working environment provide severe challenges for bin picking. For a large auto part factory Mech-Mind Robotics developed a 3D vision guided solution using Mech-Eye Laser L, which guides the robot to recognize and accurately grab inner gears randomly lying in the deep bin and place them at their designated positions. The solution can concurrently feed two machine tools and improved overall efficiency dramatically. The intelligent AI algorithms and the built-in motion planning and collision detection algorithms ensure an accurate and stable process.

Automotive industry: Machine loading of brake discs

Brake discs go through several processing steps before they leave the factory. Conventional machine loading is still often done manually. For increasing the productivity, a system from Mech-Mind Robotics was integrated for a customer in the automotive supply industry that detects randomly stacked brake discs, picks them up and places them in the machine tool for processing. By automating the process, production stability was also significantly optimized.

Automotive industry: Machine tending of flange discs

[Translate to Englisch:]

Manual machine tending for heavy objects like flange discs is not friendly to the workers’ health and inefficient. To boost productivity, while maintaining production stability, a large flange disc manufacturer in China decided to automate its production line with Mech-Mind’s AI+3D industrial robotic solution. The superior 3D system guides robots to grab flange discs randomly piled in the deep bin and place them at their correct orientations and sides. This solution is suitable for picking flange discs of various specifications, can generate real-time data of the exact statuses and positions of each flange discs, and with the included intelligent motion planning system calculates the optimal path for the robots, so their movement is precise, stable, and collision-free.

Automotive industry: Picking of reflective components

Manual picking of con-rods is time-consuming, inefficient and costly. However, for conventional automation solutions, their reflective surface often poses a challenge. The high-precision Mech-Eye Pro M Enhanced anti-reflective camera easily detects even con-rods that are randomly stacked or densely placed in bins, picks them up collision-free and guides them stably to their destination.

Automotive industry: Sorting of components

A large number of individual components are required in an automotive assembly production line. The automated loading of a wide variety of components can be integrated into the assembly process reliably with the all-in-one solution from Mech-Mind Robotics. The robot selects the required parts, picks them up collision-free and guides them to their destination in a stable manner.

Construction equipment manufacturer: Bin Picking of track links

[Translate to Englisch:]

To increase efficiency with a guaranteed 24-hour production, Mech-Mind’s AI+3D industrial robot solutions enable the automation of bin picking of track links for a large construction equipment manufacturer. The 3D vision system recognizes and locates the track links piled in a deep bin, instructs the robot to grab one by one, double-check front and back side, and place them at a defined area in a fixed position. By using Mech-Eye Laser L, possible interferences of ambient light are significantly reduced and the camera can provide high precision pictures of a wide filed of view. Dozens of workstations have been automated, increasing the daily output up to over 1000 and reducing the costs by 60%.

Construction equipment manufacturer: Picking and sorting of steel plates

[Translate to Englisch:]

Picking steel plates of different specifications and shapes from a conveyor belt and then palletizing them sorted by each type is a challenging task for robots. Mech-Mind’s AI+3D industrial robot solution includes the Mech-Eye Laser L industrial 3D camera with a wide field of view combined with high precision to recognize the individual plates, intelligent analysis and planning of the gripping points, and the built-in intelligent palletizing strategy to create the optimal palletizing pattern and to ensure the full usage of the space. This solution is the first satisfying and stable running material staging production line for the customer and regarded as a benchmark for further projects.

Food industry:
Depalletizing of cartons

Manual depalletizing is inefficient when the cartons are large and heavy. Even smaller food factories therefore rely on robust automation solutions for palletizing and depalletizing their product cartons. Robots equipped with the Mech-Mind Robotics 3D vision system detect cartons of different sizes and poses, take them off the pallet  and place them on the conveyor belt. As accurate and clever as in Tetris.

Furniture industry: Bonding of backrests

In image vision, white surfaces mean zero information. Therefore, white is a great challenge for vision-based automation processes. For a furniture manufacturer, Mech-Mind Robotics implemented an AI-supported solution that reliably detects randomly placed white backrest on an assembly line and glues them precisely along defined contours. This is made possible by the use of the high-resolution, low-reflection Mech-Eye Pro M Enhanced 3D camera, which generates exact 3D images even of black or reflective components.

Logistics: Parcel sorting at China Post

Mech-Mind robotergestützte Paketsortierung Post China

China Post Group is a rapidly expanding logistics company in mainland of China. Until now, parcels had to be manually placed into roller containers and bags at the sorting center. With the cost-efficient complete solution from Mech-Mind Robotics, parcel sorting has now been fully automated. The intelligent system autonomously distinguishes hard cartons from soft-packed parcels. Singulation problems have been minimized and cycle times significantly increased. The use of robots also avoids close employee contact - thus implementing the requirements for protection against Covid-19.