Fully Automated Order Picking in the Steel Industry

Featuring nine million measuring points and ensuring a fully automated and secure grip, KASTO offers its KASTOpick bar robot solution. This system can pick and deliver flat, square and round materials, as well as round and profile tubes, without the need for human intervention. The solution is available for new systems or for retrofitting existing storage systems.

"For many years, manipulators, such as KASTOpick sheet, have been used to separate metal sheets neatly stacked on load carriers," said a company spokesperson. "However, handling a bar stock cassette with chaotic storage is considerably more difficult. Dealing with nonoriented objects is challenging because their position and arrangement are hard to predict. A complex recognition and adjustment process is required to grip and place the bars correctly. KASTO offers a smart solution for efficient separation: KASTOpick bar optimizes the removal of magnetic bright and black steel in both new and existing warehouse systems."

This solution allows users to remove and manipulate different bars from storage cassettes without the need for human intervention in three-shift operation, i.e. 24/7. This system recognizes and grips not only flat, square and round bars, but also round and profile tubes. Users can conveniently link several production steps using this system. KASTOpick bar accomplishes two tasks: it picks the bar stock and prepares bundles for shipping or supplies individual bars for further processing on the saw. There is no need for teach-in by the user.

To start the process, KASTOpick bar moves a 3D sensor measuring probe over the storage cassette, which can be up to 6 meters in length. An algorithm developed by KASTO is used to process the 3D point cloud generated by this scan. The software analyses the data to identify the bar locations and potential gripping points for the robots. Only those points are considered that allow the machines to deposit the bar without causing a collision. This intelligent calculation of the travel path prevents the robots from colliding and the bar from striking an obstacle in its path. To perform this procedure, the software predicts the proposed movement and optimizes the route to the target position. The process starts anew with the next scan.

For more information contact:

KASTO Inc.

3002 Venture Court

Export, PA 15632

724-325-5600

sales@us.kasto.com

www.kasto.com