PalletTool: Two Columns of Boxes on Same Infeed

    Hello all,

    I am working on a palletizing cell with one infeed station and two pallet stations. The overall process is as follows:

    • All unit loads exit the upstream process narrow side leading (LonL), and go through a 90° transfer to enter the cell broad side leading (LonW)
    • Robot builds one pallet at a time
    • Robot builds the second pallet while the first pallet is being manually offloaded

    There are a total of seven unit loads on this system, six of which are pretty straightforward. The one exception is a smaller case, approximately 7"Lx6"Wx9.5"H, which for cycle time reasons we are trying to transfer into the cell two at a time. This would allow us to pick eight boxes from the infeed in a 2x4 configuration.

    I have configured a custom gripper for this unit load, and manually set the X and Y values on the UTOOLs to match the desired 2x4 pick configuration. I have run this unit load in Roboguide, and obviously the parts come into the cell on the infeed one by one. When the robot picks, it maintains this box configuration through the entire pick/place cycle, placing all eight boxes in a straight line even though the unit load is set up to drop the boxes in the desired 2x4 pattern.

    So, I suppose my question is threefold:

    1. Is what I'm trying to do (2x4 pick configuration) even possible in PalletTool, without major code modifications?
    2. Am I on the right track regarding the gripper configuration?
    3. Is there a way to accurately depict this type of action in Roboguide, or is this something that would work on a real machine but not in simulation?

    Any input is appreciated.

    TIA

    1. Yes.

    2. Yes

    3. No, you are correct.

    It won't look correct in the simulation, but what really matters is that all of the cases are configured to drop at once, i.e. all "&" in the configuration grid. In RoboGuide, when the robot is moving with the cases after a pick, the group of cases should start at the case 1 UTool from the gripper setup. When the robot goes to place, verify that the robot is placing this case in the correct location with the correct rotation.

    It's kinda a jumble`o`words to explain, but I think you'll understand if you're already this deep down the PalletTool wormhole.

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