The companies will integrate Universal’s Spatial Vision self-calibrating 3D vision software into Motoman’s industrial robots. The Spatial Vision-enabled robots will be initially launched in the materials handling market in early 2010.
“Motoman is delighted to partner with Universal to launch a new line of Motoman robots enhanced with Spatial Vision,” says Roger Christian, vice president of marketing and international groups at Motoman. “The Spatial Vision software is an exciting breakthrough by Universal that will allow us to set a new price-performance point in the robotic 3D vision systems market. From 3D bin picking to racking, these robots will allow our customers to enhance their operations and save valuable time and resources.”
Spatial Vision-enabled robots can be used for 3D bin picking, racking and de-racking of parts and picking loosely oriented parts on a conveyor.
Spatial Vision enables automatic self-calibration with full color, high-definition images at millimeter accuracy within a robot’s work envelope, according to Motoman. A Spatial Vision system can automatically identify a dynamic point in 3D space and calculate the distance to the point using web cams. It delivers full-frame, color results at 960 x 720 pixels four to five times per second.
“Spatial Vision software gives robots the real-time, high-fidelity input necessary to react to their physical environments,” says David Peters, CEO of Universal Robotics. “This is an important step towards Universal’s efforts to enable machines to efficiently perform difficult or dangerous tasks.”
