Gearbox Picking and Placing by JAKA Zu 18 Cobot
About the Company
The company focuses on the manufacture of auto parts and accessories. It produces and sells isokinetic belts, and provides an after-sales service for additional auto parts and products.
Company’s Challenges
Part of the company’s loading and unloading process involves moving heavy gearboxes from pallets onto a roller conveyor. The task was very physically demanding on human workers due to the size, weight and distribution of the gear boxes.
It was decided that an automated solution could improve working conditions and production capacity. While traditional pick and place industrial robots were considered, ultimately, they weren’t suitable for the tight working space, and had less capability to work alongside human workers safely. Instead, a collaborative robot was sought out.

Solution
The company chose to integrate a JAKA Zu 18 cobot, equipped with a 3D camera vision system. The weight of the gearboxes was no problem for the Zu 18, and thanks to its wide working radius, it could easily pick from pallets containing four units each.
The 3D camera allows the cobot to precisely identify the position of the objects, allowing it to quickly and securely grasp them. With safety in mind, not only does the cobot have in-built collision detection, but it also automatically reduces its speed to just 10% of normal operating speed whenever a person is within its working area.
Results
The company was able to successfully automate the pick and place task, relieving four human workers of a very physically demanding job, freeing them to up focus on more complicated tasks.
The solution was a safe and truly collaborative robot, which is able to operate within the tight working environment, and whose operation can be dynamically adjusted by in-house employees, without the need for an external operator.

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Info
Address
Building 33-35, 610,
Jianchuan Road, Minhang District,
Shanghai, China.