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From “Not feasible” to series production

How IMA Schelling enables the automated processing of chaotic panel stacks

In industrial automation, conventional vision systems quickly reach their limits when parts are randomly arranged and high demands for speed and robustness must be met at the same time. In these scenarios, success depends not only on the performance of individual components, but above all on how well they work together. The interaction of sensing, data acquisition, and intelligent processing becomes critical—especially where off-the-shelf components alone are no longer sufficient.

The solution developed together with IMA Schelling demonstrates how even highly dynamic and complex applications can be automated reliably.

Customer

IMA Schelling develops machinery and systems for the wood and furniture industry, aiming to make production processes more efficient and flexible. The focus is on solutions that integrate seamlessly into existing manufacturing environments and perform reliably even with varying materials and requirements.

Challenge

In this specific application, wood panels had to be processed automatically from a chaotic pallet stack. The requirements were clearly defined: randomly stacked panels with varying sizes, decors, and surface finishes; reliable identification of individual panels within the stack; determination of a suitable pick point in robot coordinates within three seconds; and barcode reading at any position within the stack. At the same time, a total cycle time of seven seconds had to be maintained.

Conventional approaches quickly reach their limits when faced with this combination of variability and speed. After discussions with several potential suppliers, IMA Schelling came to a sobering conclusion: “No one is willing to develop this.”

Solution

In collaboration with IMA Schelling, an integrated vision solution was developed to meet these exact requirements. The system combines 3D cameras from the Ensenso portfolio for precise detection of the stack with a specially developed camera for reliable barcode label reading at any position and height within the stack. A tailored software solution handles fast data processing and decision-making.

All components are closely coordinated and form a seamless system that ensures both the required speed and the necessary robustness for industrial use.

Practical Example:

A typical application highlights the performance of the solution: A randomly stacked pallet of wood panels is fully captured and analyzed. Based on the 3D data, a suitable panel is identified and a collision-free pick point is calculated within a very short time. At the same time, reliable identification is ensured via barcode labels, regardless of their position within the stack.

The result is a stable and reproducible process that performs reliably even under varying conditions.

Technological Approach:

The 3D vision system provides an accurate spatial representation of the entire stack. This allows even panels that have shifted during transport or are directly adjacent to each other to be reliably detected. Based on this data, the software calculates suitable grasping points while taking into account potential collisions with other panels and additional process constraints. At the same time, barcodes are captured within fractions of a second and used for identification.

The tight integration of sensing and software enables all required processing steps to be completed within the specified time window.

Areas of Application

The developed solution is representative of a wide range of similar applications, such as depalletizing unordered parts, automated feeding of varying panel materials, or flexible machine loading in serial production. The modular approach makes it possible to adapt the solution to different requirements without having to re-engineer each system from scratch. Work areas can also be easily scaled by adding additional cameras.

Benefit

With this solution, IMA Schelling has a powerful foundation for reliably automating even complex handling processes. The combination of speed, flexibility, and robustness enables more efficient production while opening up new application possibilities.

At Optonic, "not feasible" is not an option.

"The strong and collaborative partnership with Optonic,
enabled us to develop and implement a viable solution for our customers in a very short time."

Jan Frederik Bode, Product Manager Robotics, IMA Schelling

Detlef Reising
Key Account Manager (PC 32, 33, 42, 48, 49, 58, 59)
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