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Month: May 2021

Astronaut headlines future logistics conference

Posted on by Keith McKinley

To help identify where space-age inspiration could provide logistics businesses with solutions for 21st century challenges, Major Tim Peake CMG will be the keynote speaker at Logistics UK’s Future Logistics Conference at the Innovation & Technology in Transport Hub (ITT Hub).

The event is to be held at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre on 30 June and 1 July 2021, and Peake – the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) – will be kicking-off the free, two-day conference with a session challenging the way that logistics, public transport and technology operates, both now and in the future.

Peake comments: “60 years ago, Man had not even set foot on the moon, but the boundaries of what’s possible have been expanded, and I look forward to challenging visitors at the conference to push their horizons and help to shape the industry of tomorrow. I am also looking forward to experiencing first-hand the wide range of new options for logistics which the ITT Hub will have on show – and possibly even seeing what it’s like to experience an autonomous vehicle.”

Elizabeth de Jong, Director of Policy at Logistics UK, comments: “We are thrilled Major Tim Peake will be presenting at the Future Logistics Conference. As a pioneer of space travel, we look forward to seeing his vision for the future of logistics unfold, as he kicks off two days of debate and discussion at the Conference.”

Peake, a former test pilot, inspired millions with his work during Mission Principia while at ISS. he is also a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) ambassador, a schools’ speaker and best-selling author.

As well as an extensive exhibition featuring the latest developments in commercial and passenger transport, ITT Hub will also provide an outdoor vehicle display area and a unique series of “ride and drive” experiences, to give attendees the chance to try the very latest in vehicle technology for themselves.

Click here to see the full conference programme and to register for free.

 

 

Astronaut headlines future logistics conference

Posted on by David Priestman

To help identify where space-age inspiration could provide logistics businesses with solutions for 21st century challenges, Major Tim Peake CMG will be the keynote speaker at Logistics UK’s Future Logistics Conference at the Innovation & Technology in Transport Hub (ITT Hub).

The event is to be held at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre on 30 June and 1 July 2021, and Peake – the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) – will be kicking-off the free, two-day conference with a session challenging the way that logistics, public transport and technology operates, both now and in the future.

Peake comments: “60 years ago, Man had not even set foot on the moon, but the boundaries of what’s possible have been expanded, and I look forward to challenging visitors at the conference to push their horizons and help to shape the industry of tomorrow. I am also looking forward to experiencing first-hand the wide range of new options for logistics which the ITT Hub will have on show – and possibly even seeing what it’s like to experience an autonomous vehicle.”

Elizabeth de Jong, Director of Policy at Logistics UK, comments: “We are thrilled Major Tim Peake will be presenting at the Future Logistics Conference. As a pioneer of space travel, we look forward to seeing his vision for the future of logistics unfold, as he kicks off two days of debate and discussion at the Conference.”

Peake, a former test pilot, inspired millions with his work during Mission Principia while at ISS. he is also a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) ambassador, a schools’ speaker and best-selling author.

As well as an extensive exhibition featuring the latest developments in commercial and passenger transport, ITT Hub will also provide an outdoor vehicle display area and a unique series of “ride and drive” experiences, to give attendees the chance to try the very latest in vehicle technology for themselves.

Click here to see the full conference programme and to register for free.

 

 

Stolt joins zero carbon shipping initiative

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Stolt Tankers and Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping have signed a Partnership Agreement that formalises their joint working. With this agreement, Stolt Tankers becomes an official partner to the Center, committing to long-term collaboration around the development of zero carbon solutions for the maritime industry.

Through this partnership the two organisations commit to extensive knowledge sharing and to exploring future fuel pathways where Stolt Tankers brings valuable expertise around the challenges and safety aspects of handling fuels and chemicals both at sea and in terminals.

Other possible areas of collaboration include energy efficiency opportunities and new technologies where Stolt Tankers has a long history of looking across and beyond the shipping industry as a driver of innovative solutions. As a partner, Stolt Tankers will directly contribute through secondments of R&D- and shipping experts as well as test capacity of its own vessels in relevant demonstration projects and activities.

Lucas Vos, President Stolt Tankers, commented: “At Stolt Tankers, we are committed to working with other industry leaders, our customers and suppliers to build a zero-carbon maritime industry. I strongly believe that the knowhow, innovation and creativity needed for a greener future cannot be achieved by any one company alone and am excited to have joined the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping so that we can solve some of the decarbonisation challenges that our industry faces, together.

“Our team will bring valuable insights to the Center through our advanced knowledge and expertise, not only in the chemical tanker segment, but by leveraging the wider knowledge of our colleagues across the Stolt-Nielsen business. I am proud to be part of an organisation that is helping to create a sustainable future for all.”

In welcoming Stolt Tankers on board, CEO Bo Cerup-Simonsen says: “With Stolt Tankers, we are getting a partner with extensive knowledge and expertise in transport and handling of fuels and chemicals which is critical for assessing viable pathways for future fuels. They bring an innovative spirit which is evident in their operations, their impressive project portfolio and their commitment to a carbon neutral future for shipping. We look very much forward to the collaboration.”

Shipping’s road map to decarbonisation

With 70.000 ships consuming 300 tonnes of fuel each year, global shipping accounts for around 3% of global carbon emissions, a share that is likely to increase as other industries tackle climate emissions in the coming decades.

Achieving the long-term target of decarbonisation requires new fuel types and a systemic change within the industry. Shipping is a globally regulated industry, which provides an opportunity to secure broad-based industry adoption of new technology and fuels.

To accelerate the development of viable technologies a coordinated effort within applied research is needed across the entire supply chain. Industry leaders play a critical role in ensuring that laboratory research is successfully matured to scalable solutions matching the needs of industry. At the same time, new legislation will be required to enable the transition towards decarbonisation.

Stolt joins zero carbon shipping initiative

Posted on by David Priestman

Stolt Tankers and Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping have signed a Partnership Agreement that formalises their joint working. With this agreement, Stolt Tankers becomes an official partner to the Center, committing to long-term collaboration around the development of zero carbon solutions for the maritime industry.

Through this partnership the two organisations commit to extensive knowledge sharing and to exploring future fuel pathways where Stolt Tankers brings valuable expertise around the challenges and safety aspects of handling fuels and chemicals both at sea and in terminals.

Other possible areas of collaboration include energy efficiency opportunities and new technologies where Stolt Tankers has a long history of looking across and beyond the shipping industry as a driver of innovative solutions. As a partner, Stolt Tankers will directly contribute through secondments of R&D- and shipping experts as well as test capacity of its own vessels in relevant demonstration projects and activities.

Lucas Vos, President Stolt Tankers, commented: “At Stolt Tankers, we are committed to working with other industry leaders, our customers and suppliers to build a zero-carbon maritime industry. I strongly believe that the knowhow, innovation and creativity needed for a greener future cannot be achieved by any one company alone and am excited to have joined the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping so that we can solve some of the decarbonisation challenges that our industry faces, together.

“Our team will bring valuable insights to the Center through our advanced knowledge and expertise, not only in the chemical tanker segment, but by leveraging the wider knowledge of our colleagues across the Stolt-Nielsen business. I am proud to be part of an organisation that is helping to create a sustainable future for all.”

In welcoming Stolt Tankers on board, CEO Bo Cerup-Simonsen says: “With Stolt Tankers, we are getting a partner with extensive knowledge and expertise in transport and handling of fuels and chemicals which is critical for assessing viable pathways for future fuels. They bring an innovative spirit which is evident in their operations, their impressive project portfolio and their commitment to a carbon neutral future for shipping. We look very much forward to the collaboration.”

Shipping’s road map to decarbonisation

With 70.000 ships consuming 300 tonnes of fuel each year, global shipping accounts for around 3% of global carbon emissions, a share that is likely to increase as other industries tackle climate emissions in the coming decades.

Achieving the long-term target of decarbonisation requires new fuel types and a systemic change within the industry. Shipping is a globally regulated industry, which provides an opportunity to secure broad-based industry adoption of new technology and fuels.

To accelerate the development of viable technologies a coordinated effort within applied research is needed across the entire supply chain. Industry leaders play a critical role in ensuring that laboratory research is successfully matured to scalable solutions matching the needs of industry. At the same time, new legislation will be required to enable the transition towards decarbonisation.

Manhattan Associates announces breakthrough in supply chain execution

Posted on by David Priestman

Manhattan Associates Inc. announced at its recent Momentum Connect customer conference a landmark advancement in supply chain efficiency and optimisation. With the introduction of Manhattan Active Transportation Management to the Manhattan Active Supply Chain suite, the company has unified distribution, transportation, labour and automation within a single, cloud-native application built on Manhattan Active technology.

Modern demands on supply chain organisations have exceeded the ability of traditional, portfolio-based supply chain solutions, which create artificial boundaries between distribution and transportation capabilities and limit productivity and adaptability. Manhattan Active Supply Chain eliminates these barriers by merging viewing, planning, optimisation and execution activities into a single app.

Manhattan Active Transportation Management has been fused with Manhattan Active Warehouse Management to optimise inbound and outbound planning and execution. This unified solution introduces an unprecedented level of flexibility and agility to solve problems that could not have been resolved before.

“True convergence of supply chain execution systems has always offered a tantalising opportunity for significant efficiency, productivity, and agility improvement. Unfortunately, technology limitations have made it impossible before now,” said Steve Banker, Vice President, Supply Chain Management at ARC Advisory Group. “The emergence of all-microservices solutions, like Manhattan Active Supply Chain, can help an organisation achieve a more continuous, collaborative planning and execution environment. The result is a more agile and efficient supply chain.”

With traditional supply chain suites, transportation, distribution planning and execution processes are performed independently. By unifying distribution and transportation, Manhattan has unlocked a new level of agility and responsiveness within supply chain operations. Its Active Supply Chain provides unified visibility and control of all supply chain operations, accelerating deliveries to customers thus increasing worker productivity, improving warehouse throughput and ensuring on-time deliveries.

“For years, our customers have expressed their desire to move away from running WMS and TMS independently and instead optimise and manage their inbound and outbound flow processes as a whole,” said Brian Kinsella, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Manhattan. “Legacy supply chain applications make the management of these end-to-end processes nearly impossible, because integrated applications are inherently limited in their scope and resiliency.

“Rather than integrating applications, Manhattan Active Supply Chain is a holistic collection of supply chain execution microservices, providing Manhattan and our customers with a comprehensive set of capabilities to compose end-to-end solutions. And, because all of the microservices are versionless, our customers benefit from our growing list of unified use cases over time.”

Manhattan Active Supply chain provides a single user experience across all supply chain functions. From one application, users can do everything from drill into labour productivity and robotic performance to respond to real-time shipment alerts and re-broadcasting capacity needs to change carriers quickly and easily. They can navigate seamlessly through shipments or view the real-time status of an order. As they comb through this data, they are able to take action on this information because in-line operational analytics are built directly into the execution systems.

Manhattan Active Supply Chain is the most adaptable, configurable, extensible and scalable supply chain execution system ever engineered. And it is only possible with the Manhattan Active architecture, cloud-native technology that is continuously adaptive, always current, and seamlessly interconnected.

Manhattan Associates announces breakthrough in supply chain execution

Posted on by David Priestman

Manhattan Associates Inc. announced at its recent Momentum Connect customer conference a landmark advancement in supply chain efficiency and optimisation. With the introduction of Manhattan Active Transportation Management to the Manhattan Active Supply Chain suite, the company has unified distribution, transportation, labour and automation within a single, cloud-native application built on Manhattan Active technology.

Modern demands on supply chain organisations have exceeded the ability of traditional, portfolio-based supply chain solutions, which create artificial boundaries between distribution and transportation capabilities and limit productivity and adaptability. Manhattan Active Supply Chain eliminates these barriers by merging viewing, planning, optimisation and execution activities into a single app.

Manhattan Active Transportation Management has been fused with Manhattan Active Warehouse Management to optimise inbound and outbound planning and execution. This unified solution introduces an unprecedented level of flexibility and agility to solve problems that could not have been resolved before.

“True convergence of supply chain execution systems has always offered a tantalising opportunity for significant efficiency, productivity, and agility improvement. Unfortunately, technology limitations have made it impossible before now,” said Steve Banker, Vice President, Supply Chain Management at ARC Advisory Group. “The emergence of all-microservices solutions, like Manhattan Active Supply Chain, can help an organisation achieve a more continuous, collaborative planning and execution environment. The result is a more agile and efficient supply chain.”

With traditional supply chain suites, transportation, distribution planning and execution processes are performed independently. By unifying distribution and transportation, Manhattan has unlocked a new level of agility and responsiveness within supply chain operations. Its Active Supply Chain provides unified visibility and control of all supply chain operations, accelerating deliveries to customers thus increasing worker productivity, improving warehouse throughput and ensuring on-time deliveries.

“For years, our customers have expressed their desire to move away from running WMS and TMS independently and instead optimise and manage their inbound and outbound flow processes as a whole,” said Brian Kinsella, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Manhattan. “Legacy supply chain applications make the management of these end-to-end processes nearly impossible, because integrated applications are inherently limited in their scope and resiliency.

“Rather than integrating applications, Manhattan Active Supply Chain is a holistic collection of supply chain execution microservices, providing Manhattan and our customers with a comprehensive set of capabilities to compose end-to-end solutions. And, because all of the microservices are versionless, our customers benefit from our growing list of unified use cases over time.”

Manhattan Active Supply chain provides a single user experience across all supply chain functions. From one application, users can do everything from drill into labour productivity and robotic performance to respond to real-time shipment alerts and re-broadcasting capacity needs to change carriers quickly and easily. They can navigate seamlessly through shipments or view the real-time status of an order. As they comb through this data, they are able to take action on this information because in-line operational analytics are built directly into the execution systems.

Manhattan Active Supply Chain is the most adaptable, configurable, extensible and scalable supply chain execution system ever engineered. And it is only possible with the Manhattan Active architecture, cloud-native technology that is continuously adaptive, always current, and seamlessly interconnected.

Nord heralds a new era of drive technology

Posted on by David Priestman

With its latest product developments from the high-efficiency portfolio, Nord Drivesystems has once again demonstrated its competence and innovative strength in mechanical and electronic drive technology. This is what the managing partners Jutta Humbert and Ullrich Küchenmeister say:

“We focus on becoming better and better, and developing innovative drive solutions for more than 100 branches of industry. It takes courage to break new ground and to challenge the status quo. We have the courage because we are listening to our customers’ needs and wants, and transform them into sustainable products and concepts.

“With 48 companies in 36 countries worldwide, we are close to our customers. We on the management board and each of our more than 4,000 employees worldwide are very proud of our truly revolutionary DuoDrive geared motor. This heralds a new era of drive technology!

“The patented new DuoDrive geared motor has an efficiency of up to 92% and is thus one of the most efficient geared motors in its power class. This was achieved by integrating our IE5+ synchronous motor into a single-stage helical gear unit – a completely new approach in geared motor design.

“With our IE5+ synchronous motor, we have already been able to significantly reduce losses compared to the current IE4 series. DuoDrive goes one step further and sets new standards with regard to power density, installation space and version reduction. Our new high-efficiency portfolio is supplemented by the decentralised Nordac ON frequency inverter.

“With its integrated Ethernet interface and its very compact design, it provides a highly economic plug-and-play solution for IoT environments. For more than 55 years, we have been meeting highest quality standards with our expertise, experience and high depth of production.

“All quality-determining components are produced in our own factories and we are currently operating eight production locations with cutting-edge technology. In our technology centre near Hamburg, we are developing the future of drive technology – worldwide.”

 

Nord heralds a new era of drive technology

Posted on by Keith McKinley

With its latest product developments from the high-efficiency portfolio, Nord Drivesystems has once again demonstrated its competence and innovative strength in mechanical and electronic drive technology. This is what the managing partners Jutta Humbert and Ullrich Küchenmeister say:

“We focus on becoming better and better, and developing innovative drive solutions for more than 100 branches of industry. It takes courage to break new ground and to challenge the status quo. We have the courage because we are listening to our customers’ needs and wants, and transform them into sustainable products and concepts.

“With 48 companies in 36 countries worldwide, we are close to our customers. We on the management board and each of our more than 4,000 employees worldwide are very proud of our truly revolutionary DuoDrive geared motor. This heralds a new era of drive technology!

“The patented new DuoDrive geared motor has an efficiency of up to 92% and is thus one of the most efficient geared motors in its power class. This was achieved by integrating our IE5+ synchronous motor into a single-stage helical gear unit – a completely new approach in geared motor design.

“With our IE5+ synchronous motor, we have already been able to significantly reduce losses compared to the current IE4 series. DuoDrive goes one step further and sets new standards with regard to power density, installation space and version reduction. Our new high-efficiency portfolio is supplemented by the decentralised Nordac ON frequency inverter.

“With its integrated Ethernet interface and its very compact design, it provides a highly economic plug-and-play solution for IoT environments. For more than 55 years, we have been meeting highest quality standards with our expertise, experience and high depth of production.

“All quality-determining components are produced in our own factories and we are currently operating eight production locations with cutting-edge technology. In our technology centre near Hamburg, we are developing the future of drive technology – worldwide.”

 

Robot vision and AI combine for advanced automation

Posted on by David Priestman

Robots are gradually becoming an integral part of modern processes in logistics and many other industries. Replacing humans with robots for specific tasks brings many benefits – from higher productivity and efficiency to decreased costs and minimised risk of injuries. Freeing employees from repetitive jobs for more valuable, high-impact tasks that require creativity and critical thinking increases their motivation and eagerness, which, in turn, eliminates the risk of human errors.

Automation is certainly the way to go for any forward-looking business – but how to choose from the immense amount of solutions that are available on the market? What makes a solution better or more advanced than others?

For a robot to be able to perform tasks that were done manually before – and to do it as reliably as humans and even better – robots need to “see” and “understand”. That’s the essence of the most advanced high-tech smart solutions that enable businesses to push their processes to the next level of innovation and modernity.

Automation solutions that boost logistical processes

One of the leading companies in the sector of vision-guided, intelligent robotics for industrial applications is Photoneo. The company combines its in-house developed 3D machine vision systems with advanced AI algorithms to provide smart automation solutions for logistics, e-commerce, and other sectors. Photoneo’s automation systems help logistical companies process large volumes of parcels, boxes, and other items by deploying robots equipped with high-end 3D vision and intelligence.

These systems include the Universal Depalletizer for automated unloading of pallets laden with mixed types of boxes and the Singulation and Sorting System for robotic processing of large, unstructured loads of parcels and envelopes.

The basic principle of both systems is that they first scan an entire pile of items, recognize the individual objects in the pile, localise them and decide which one to pick, and then send a command to the robot to perform the picking action. The robot is equipped with a vacuum gripper with a suction cup and can achieve a picking accuracy of ±3mm.

The cycle time is only limited by the speed of the robot. The Universal Depalletizer can generally unload 1,600 boxes in one hour and the Singulation and Sorting System can process 2,500 parcels per hour.

Robotic vision – seeing in 3D

Photoneo equips robots with its industrial-grade PhoXi 3D Scanners, which provide a point cloud resolution of up to 3 million 3D points and an accuracy of 25-500μm across its five models. Each model is suitable for a different scanning range – from 15cm up to 4m.

The scanners provide superior performance even in demanding light conditions, such as brightly lit halls, thanks to the ambient light suppression technology. Their powering versatility allows users to use a single cable to get both electric power and data connection – the Power over Ethernet. Alternatively, the devices can be powered by 24V. Thanks to the IP65 protection rating, PhoXi 3D Scanners are dust-tight and protected against low-pressure jets of water coming from any direction and at any angle.

Besides PhoXi 3D Scanners, which enable robots to “see” 3D scenes that are static, Photoneo also developed a revolutionary technology that enables a high-quality 3D reconstruction of moving objects. The industrial 3D camera named MotionCam-3D enables a snapshot area capture of scenes moving up to 140km/h with a resolution of up to 0,9Mpx (and 2Mpx in the static mode). It’s five models, ranging from S, S+, M, M+ to L, enable the recognition of small packages as well as large boxes coming on a conveyor belt, for instance.

Robotic intelligence and the most advanced approach to object localisation

After a scan is made, it is transferred to a 3D texture dataset to be processed by Photoneo’s AI algorithms. For object segmentation and localisation on the basis of texture and 3D data, the systems use the most advanced approach to object classification and pattern recognition – a convolutional neural network (CNN). Because the network was trained on a large dataset of objects and thanks to its ability to generalise, it can quickly recognise even objects that it has never “seen” before.

Therefore, the parcels and boxes may come in any shape, size, material, colour, texture, position, or orientation. The objects may be irregularly shaped, deformed, placed randomly, and even tilted at an angle. The systems also master challenging surfaces such as black, glossy, or covered with various pictures, patterns, shipping labels, or protruding tapes. The depalletisation solution is even able to easily differentiate gaps between the individual boxes and those between their flaps.

Photoneo systems for automated depalletisation and singulation and sorting of parcels are universal, which enables them to work with any type of boxes or parcels out of the box, without requiring any further training. Another big plus is that the systems are compatible with a wide range of robot models.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RbGpQWp-O4

 

Robot vision and AI combine for advanced automation

Posted on by David Priestman

Robots are gradually becoming an integral part of modern processes in logistics and many other industries. Replacing humans with robots for specific tasks brings many benefits – from higher productivity and efficiency to decreased costs and minimised risk of injuries. Freeing employees from repetitive jobs for more valuable, high-impact tasks that require creativity and critical thinking increases their motivation and eagerness, which, in turn, eliminates the risk of human errors.

Automation is certainly the way to go for any forward-looking business – but how to choose from the immense amount of solutions that are available on the market? What makes a solution better or more advanced than others?

For a robot to be able to perform tasks that were done manually before – and to do it as reliably as humans and even better – robots need to “see” and “understand”. That’s the essence of the most advanced high-tech smart solutions that enable businesses to push their processes to the next level of innovation and modernity.

Automation solutions that boost logistical processes

One of the leading companies in the sector of vision-guided, intelligent robotics for industrial applications is Photoneo. The company combines its in-house developed 3D machine vision systems with advanced AI algorithms to provide smart automation solutions for logistics, e-commerce, and other sectors. Photoneo’s automation systems help logistical companies process large volumes of parcels, boxes, and other items by deploying robots equipped with high-end 3D vision and intelligence.

These systems include the Universal Depalletizer for automated unloading of pallets laden with mixed types of boxes and the Singulation and Sorting System for robotic processing of large, unstructured loads of parcels and envelopes.

The basic principle of both systems is that they first scan an entire pile of items, recognize the individual objects in the pile, localise them and decide which one to pick, and then send a command to the robot to perform the picking action. The robot is equipped with a vacuum gripper with a suction cup and can achieve a picking accuracy of ±3mm.

The cycle time is only limited by the speed of the robot. The Universal Depalletizer can generally unload 1,600 boxes in one hour and the Singulation and Sorting System can process 2,500 parcels per hour.

Robotic vision – seeing in 3D

Photoneo equips robots with its industrial-grade PhoXi 3D Scanners, which provide a point cloud resolution of up to 3 million 3D points and an accuracy of 25-500μm across its five models. Each model is suitable for a different scanning range – from 15cm up to 4m.

The scanners provide superior performance even in demanding light conditions, such as brightly lit halls, thanks to the ambient light suppression technology. Their powering versatility allows users to use a single cable to get both electric power and data connection – the Power over Ethernet. Alternatively, the devices can be powered by 24V. Thanks to the IP65 protection rating, PhoXi 3D Scanners are dust-tight and protected against low-pressure jets of water coming from any direction and at any angle.

Besides PhoXi 3D Scanners, which enable robots to “see” 3D scenes that are static, Photoneo also developed a revolutionary technology that enables a high-quality 3D reconstruction of moving objects. The industrial 3D camera named MotionCam-3D enables a snapshot area capture of scenes moving up to 140km/h with a resolution of up to 0,9Mpx (and 2Mpx in the static mode). It’s five models, ranging from S, S+, M, M+ to L, enable the recognition of small packages as well as large boxes coming on a conveyor belt, for instance.

Robotic intelligence and the most advanced approach to object localisation

After a scan is made, it is transferred to a 3D texture dataset to be processed by Photoneo’s AI algorithms. For object segmentation and localisation on the basis of texture and 3D data, the systems use the most advanced approach to object classification and pattern recognition – a convolutional neural network (CNN). Because the network was trained on a large dataset of objects and thanks to its ability to generalise, it can quickly recognise even objects that it has never “seen” before.

Therefore, the parcels and boxes may come in any shape, size, material, colour, texture, position, or orientation. The objects may be irregularly shaped, deformed, placed randomly, and even tilted at an angle. The systems also master challenging surfaces such as black, glossy, or covered with various pictures, patterns, shipping labels, or protruding tapes. The depalletisation solution is even able to easily differentiate gaps between the individual boxes and those between their flaps.

Photoneo systems for automated depalletisation and singulation and sorting of parcels are universal, which enables them to work with any type of boxes or parcels out of the box, without requiring any further training. Another big plus is that the systems are compatible with a wide range of robot models.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RbGpQWp-O4

 

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