Drives & Controls Magazine November/December 2022

n TECHNOLOGY November/December 2022 www.drivesncontrols.com 16 AMAZONHAS ANNOUNCED a robotic system that can identify, select and handle around 65% of the more than 100 million items in its inventory. The robot, called Sparrow, uses a combination of computer vision and AI (artificial intelligence) to identify tens of millions of products of differing shapes and sizes, but it still has problems with items that have loose or complex packaging. The robot is based on a Fanuc machine that has been customised using Amazon hardware – including a suction system for picking up items – and software that uses sensors to identify products based on a variety of factors including size, shape and barcodes. Amazon says that the Sparrow robot will take on repetitive tasks, allowing its employees to focus their time and energy on other things, while improving safety. It will also help to improve the shopping giant’s efficiency by automating a critical part of its fulfilment process. The company claims that the Sparrow robot represents a major advance in technology. Last year, its global workforce picked, stowed, or packed around five billion packages – more than 13 million per day. It argues that robotics technologies will help them to work smarter – not harder. Amazon has created more than 700 new job categories based on robots and other technologies. It says that the new roles, involving tens of thousands of employees, demonstrate the positive impact that technology can have for staff and the workplace. Since 2020, Amazon has been offering its employees a 12-week classroom-based mechatronics and robotics apprenticeship programme, followed by 2,000 hours of on-the-job training and industry-recognised certifications. This is helping the employees to learn new skills and pursue maintenance roles. When they complete their apprenticeship, Amazon’s employees receive pay rises of around 40%. “Since 2020, Amazon has been offering its employees a 12-week classroom-based mechatronics and robotics apprenticeship programme, followed by 2,000 hours of on-the-job training and industry-recognised certifications.” AT THE RECENT SPS exhibition in Germany, Beckhoff unveiled a portfolio of machine vision hardware to complement its TwinCat Vision software which has been available since 2017. The Beckhoff Vision portfolio offers machine-builders and end-users a complete image-processing system that includes all of the necessary components, from software to illumination. It has been designed to integrate with the company’s EtherCat-based control technology, opening up claimed advantages for users such as accurate synchronisation with all machine processes, lower engineering and hardware costs, and simplified commissioning and support. Multiple cameras can be attached to the same EtherCat bus. Typical applications include: object detection and recognition; code reading; optical measurements; edge and register control; thermal imaging; assembly control; character recognition; pick-and-place operations; completeness checks; and motion freezing. The new components include: n Cameras The area-scan cameras generate high-quality image data using colour and monochrome CMOS sensors with resolutions of up to 24-megapixel and pixel pitches of 3.45μm and 2.74μm, and offer data transfer rates of up to 2.5Gbit/s; n Lenses The robust C-mount lenses offer resolutions of up to 2μm, and image circles of 11mm and 19.3mm, VIS and NIR AR coatings, and easy handling; and n Illumination The multi-colour LED systems in three formats – area, ring, and bar – produce constant illumination conditions for high-quality images. They are said to create the best possible contrast between an object and its surroundings and offer a spectrally adjustable pulse mode. www.beckhoff.com/vision n Vision hardware complements software in single control platform Amazon robot can identify ‘tens of millions’ of products Amazon’s Sparrow robot moves products from a bin at a fulfilment centre