FANUC Robotics' new LR Mate 200iC/5F food robot

FANUC Robotics America, Inc. will demonstrate high-speed picking with its new LR Mate 200iC/5F food robot, and its M-430iA/2F high-speed, intelligent picking robot equipped with iRVision® (built-in), PickTool software, and the ROBOGUIDE/PickPRO simulation package during Pack Expo International at McCormick Place, Nov. 9-13, in booth #N4436. 

At the show, an invert-mounted M-430iA/2F equipped with FANUC’s iRVision visual line tracking software will pick two randomly oriented meat products from an infeed conveyor and place them on an outfeed conveyor.  A second floor-mounted M-430iA/2F, also equipped with iRVision, will pick two different meat products from the same infeed conveyor and place them on the same outfeed conveyor.  Together, the M-430iA/2F robots will pick and place product at rates up to 220 parts per minute.  A new LR Mate 200iC/5F food robot, positioned downstream of the outfeed conveyor, picks both product types at once and places them back on the infeed conveyor at rates of 220 parts per minute with a multi-pick gripper. 

In a second cell, the M-420iA robot, equipped with FANUC’s iRVision^® (built-in), vision sensor will demonstrate the advantages of using visual line tracking to pick and pack boxes of candy at high speeds.  Visual line tracking provides the flexibility to handle multiple products on the same automation line, eliminating the need for costly fixtures, and reducing changeover time. 

A third cell features the FANUC R-2000iB/100H will palletize and de-palletize boxes and bags from two in-feed conveyors.  It will pick bags from the lower level conveyor and palletize them using FANUC’s standard bag handling end-of-arm tool.  The robot will then pick cases from the upper conveyor and palletize on a separate pallet. In addition, the robot will perform vision-guided de-palletizing using 2D iRVision (built-in) to locate and de-palletize the boxes at high-speeds.  The compact cell highlights the importance of Dual Check Safety (DCS) Speed and Position Check software, particularly in tight workspaces.   By utilizing DCS, the footprint of the cell is considerably reduced by limiting the work envelope of the robot.