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WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFRL) — Researchers from the Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, have combined efforts with The Ohio State University, or OSU, and industry partners CapSen Robotics and Yaskawa Motoman to successfully demonstrate an autonomous robotic incremental metal forming prototype at the Warner-Robins Air Logistics Complex, or WR-ALC, a tenant of Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, in late January 2023. The artificially intelligent system, nicknamed AI-FORGE, was funded primarily by the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, or ARM, Institute, and promises to not only improve aircraft readiness for the U.S. Department of the Air Force but also to significantly impact the future of metamorphic manufacturing, also called robotic blacksmithing.

“There is an immediate need to obtain customized forged components that we might only require a few of, but which have significant lead times,” said Dr. Sean Donegan, digital manufacturing research team lead, AFRL’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate. “In the near future, this system will allow us to acquire the specific auxiliary components and tools that are required to successfully support DAF missions. But in the far term, we want to be able to make almost anything.”

CapSen Robotics, an innovator in 3D machine vision and motion planning software for robotic bin-picking applications, has announced the official v1.0 release of its CapSen PiC solution, which turns any industrial robot arm into a robot work cell designed to tackle today’s most challenging pick and place applications.

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CapSen PiC software combines 3D vision, motion planning, and control algorithms to give robots the ability to locate, pick, and manipulate objects from cluttered bins and shelves. It correctly detects 3D objects in a range of different positions and orientations, even when partially occluded or in tight, variable workspaces. The software provides consistent and complete control of a robot, end effector, and 3D cameras within a robot cell, greatly reducing the integration burden of deploying a bin-picking system.

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“Tasking a robot with making high-speed, accurate picks of parts presents several challenges, including the fact that parts can be randomly piled in containers, stacked on top of one another, or even entangled,” said Jared Glover, CEO, CapSen Robotics. “CapSen PiC takes aim at the most challenging bin-picking problems by combining 3D vision with advanced motion planning and control software to give robots spatial intelligence, and it does so without the need to custom program new parts.”

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With the Zivid Two camera, CapSen achieved a combined image capture and object detection speed of under 0.5 seconds and an average cycle time of 4 seconds per pick. In addition, thanks to the camera’s artifact reduction technology, native color operation, and high dynamic range, CapSen’s solution has operated error free, 24/7, while picking a wide variety of matte, glossy, semitransparent, and plastic-wrapped products.

Super-high volumes, ultra-fast cycle times, and an almost limitless variety of small products for picking, medical kitting presents automation engineers with a stringent set of demands. CapSen Robotics turned to the Zivid Two camera to provide the 3D sensing accuracy the application demands. CapSen Robotics specializes in 3D machine vision and motion planning software. It equips industrial robot arms with all the spatial intelligence and control they need to handle even the most difficult of objects - with far greater accuracy and much greater speed.

Jared Glover, CEO of CapSen Robotics, joins 'Cheddar Innovates' to discuss how its technology can create a safer environment for employees, and how robots are actually filling a gap in manufacturing jobs.

Pittsburgh-based Ace Wire Spring & Form Co. Inc. is a leading maker of custom springs and wire forms, including metal wire that is formed into hooks. The manufacturing process is highly complex, with 10 steps in the hook production process — beginning with bending the wire into 5-cm hooks, passing the hooks as bulk material into bins, and inserting them into a press that forms the ends.After the hook ends are pressed, they are brought to another station where an operator puts a bead on the flattened end of the hook, and the bead and the hook then get pressed together with a spring. The bead thus holds the spring in place and the spring gets tapered around. The final product is a swivel hook extension spring that can be used as a tensioning spring for fan belt pulleys.

Meet our latest addition to the MecaNetwork: CapSen Robotics. CapSen provides tailor-made solutions for unique automation challenges such as picking and placing small, shiny, metallic, and other complex parts—even assembling the pieces.

How? Their 3D vision, motion planning, and control software, CapSen PiC™, gives robots the spatial intelligence needed to manage such automation tasks.

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