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Industrial Research Limited. NZ
  • Offer Profile
  • 自动化和机器人技术
    IRL’s robotic team正在积极追求几个自动化研究项目，主要是在肉类，海鲜和其他初级产业中。
    Our interests are to apply advanced automation technology to product handling, processing and sorting to increase efficiency and throughput. In particular, we deal with natural products which are variable in size, shape texture and colour.
    Our activities涵盖从初始概念到生产原型的开发范围，与技术合作伙伴一起提供可行的商业解决方案。
产品介绍

  • Deck Checker

  • Project
    To design and build a high-speed playing card verification machine for use in casinos.
    The specification required an input stack of up to 8 decks of randomized cards to be checked for missing or duplicated cards within 2 minutes, with 100% accuracy.
    The machine needed to print a verification report after each run.

    Innovation
    The machine was required to learn the features of any casino’s playing cards, with user-definable deck structure for each of several games.

    Our contribution
    我们设计了在计算机的相机下奇异和传输卡到输出托盘所需的机械零件。
    We designed the internal electrics for the motors and other subsystem components.
    We developed the vision software, the user interface and the PLC machine control program.
    构建和试用了几个原型，然后组装100个单位。然后，我们帮助将制造转移到客户的制造设施中。
    • 赌场的扑克牌是专门为该房屋设计的。虽然每张卡在视觉上很容易识别，但数字字体和西装图标的样式和尺寸都不同。因此，机器必须拒绝外国甲板的卡。

    • Lomak键盘

    • Project
      Our task was to complete the firmware and commission a light-operated mouse and keyboard for use by people with limited or no hand function.
      We joined the project late in the development cycle. The mechanical and electronics hardware, plastics, and top surface overlay were complete, apart from issues with form and fit.
      但是，该项目停滞不前。嵌入式微处理器程序需要更多的开发来实现所需的功能。

      Innovation
      键盘在设计中是新颖的。它们是由头部安装激光器操作的，该激光器由键盘发出的编码红外信号打开。键盘也可以由手持指针控制。
      The firmware can be user-configured to generate international characters used in many countries. To the PC, the keyboards appear as a standard mouse and keyboard and do not need any extra software driver to be loaded.

      Our contribution
      我们完成了软件程序，并组装并委托了前五个商业单位。我们还为制造公司编写了一份组件和测试手册，用户指南作为在线（基于Web）的文档。
      We have subsequently created firmware releases for a variety of international markets, and implemented the Notesai variant with wider spaced keys for cerebral palsy sufferers.
      • 激光指针可以安装在头带或盖上。它在键盘范围内时打开，其光束会激活键盘上的传感器。
      • 背景中的人正在使用手po来选择字符。前面的一个是使用大型销钉。
      • Lomak键盘是Light-OperatedMOuseAndKeyoard. It is activated by a laser and can be used by a wide variety of disabled people. It can be configured to suit international users.

      • Y-cutter Robot

      • Robots in the绵羊加工industry
        机器人系统在屠宰场中急需，因为
        • High staff turnover creates a shortage of trained people
        • Repetitive physical work has risk of strain injury
        • 困难和没有吸引力的工作环境。

        挑战

        • Every carcass is different, with variety of breeds, shapes, and sizes
        • The variation in wool density and length makes sensing difficult
        • 毛很少清洁,增加cutti的穿ng blades
        • The food grade environment requires equipment to withstand high pressure washdown and be resistant to chemical attack.

        The “Y-cut” is the term used to describe the first two cuts on a sheep processing line. Sheep are suspended from the chain by the legs, and a cut is performed down the inside of each foreleg, to meet in the middle.

        The intelligent Y-cutter

        • Our Y-cutter robot is the first machine in the world to perform the “Y-cut” automatically.
        • 关键功能是Y型工具头，该工具头是专门设计的，可在不穿透皮肤的情况下切割毛皮。因此，它可以避免污染被转移到尸体上。
        • 该机器具有检测每只动物的大小的传感器，并确定最佳的机器人路径，以执行每个前肢的“ Y型”。
        • 它以每分钟最多9个尸体的吞吐量在移动链上连续处理，这是世界上最快的。

        Watch how the Y-cutter tool head operates by clicking the above link. This is a simulation used by the design engineers to check how all parts of the tool head operate, before any of the parts are committed to manufacture.

        • The Y-cutter tool head is mounted on a robot arm (orange). In the abattoir, the complete robot is protected by an all-enveloping white wash-down shroud.

        • Gas Depelter

        • Sheep pelt removal
          • 新西兰羔羊在国际上被认为是高级产品，但皮尔特本身就是商品物品
          • Pelts need to be removed with care to preserve value
          • Gas depelting has been proposed as a viable method for future processing.

          Advantages of gas depelting
          一种使用压缩气体将毛皮与car体分开的方法

          • 使随后卸下毛皮变得更容易
          • Improves the quality of the pelt and the carcass
          • 减少粘附到毛皮的脂肪量
          • 减少了不可逆转的毛皮伸展的机会。

          The machine

          • 成功地同时执行两个后腿上的自动化气体驱动

          • A critical component is the injection needle which performs a dual function of penetrating the pelt and injecting gas

          • Machine performance is highly dependent on the precise position and orientation of the injection needle that is controlled by a 3DOF manipulator for each leg

          • 每次注射后，内置的清洁系统都会消毒刀片。

          • Mussel Opener

          • The industry need
            • Green-lipped mussels are an important part of the seafood industry
            • 当在半壳中出售时，它们在出口市场中吸引了溢价
            • 自动开放过程被确定为提高生产率的关键步骤。

            挑战

            • 该机器必须具有每分钟30贻贝的高通量
            • It needed to be robust, and not damage or degrade the product
            • It must be modular to integrate with the existing plant layout and automated equipment.

            The machine

            • The highly successful concept is now a commercial reality and used in Sanford’s mussel processing plant in Havelock
            • A key feature is the vision system that identifies the size and orientation for product verification
            • Critical process steps were executed by smart mechanical devices designed to singulate, reorientate and open the product
            • 多个传感器进入机器时，将其跟踪。
            • 内置的CIP（现场清洁）确保满足卫生法规。

            • Vision Guided Robotics

            • Robotic bin picking
              • 使用机器人臂在垃圾箱中自动抓住零件，通常称为机器人箱拾取。这是一项复杂的任务，通常由视觉指导机器人（VGR）执行。
              • VGR的最新发展一直是视觉技术。现在，使用低成本3D视觉，可以通过图像处理和分析中的新方法克服复杂的问题。

              Our research scenario

              Our interests lie in handling non-rigid objects such as fruit, with variable size, shape, firmness and texture.
              我们设计了一种机器人抓手工具，可以从其侧面抓住水果。
              通过切片分析算法处理由校准相机的立体声图创建的深度图像，以识别单个对象。
              The pose of each object is obtained from a blob analysis at a specified depth.
              确定了候选选择点，从中选择最佳，并计算其坐标并发送到机器人。
              The robot picks up the fruit and transfers it to the delivery point.

              • A robot fitted with a multi-fingered gripper tool is used to grasp fruit from a pile.
              • In this image, the positions of fruit have been identified and their pose has been determined. Suitable pick-up points are shown in black. The final pick point is in red.

              • 认知映射机器人导航

              • Animal behaviour
                • When an animal explores a new environment, it does not acquire a precise map of the places visited.
                • Research has shown that learning is a recurring process.
                • 随着时间的流逝，新信息可以帮助动物更新其对所访问地点的看法。
                • They are still able to use the fuzzy and often incomplete representation to find their way home.
                • 该过程称为认知映射过程。

                The research

                • The work undertaken uses a mobile robot equipped with sonar sensors.

                • 最初，指示机器人计算其环境的认知图。由于机器人不是认知剂，因此根据定义，它不能计算认知图。

                • 我们通过创建一个本地空间网络来近似这样的地图，每个网络都是对本地空间的粗略估计，并具有已知的出口点。

                The results

                • From the experiments, the robot was able to compute a rough representation of the places visited.

                • 我们的机器人使用距离和定向信息来找到回家的路。

                • 开发的过程提供了有趣的见解s into the nature of cognitive mapping and encourages us to use a mobile robot to do cognitive mapping in the future, as opposed to its popular use in robot mapping.

                • The robot used in the cognitive mapping project has ultrasonic transducers for measuring distance.

                  Different animals have different sensing capabilities. They live in different environments and face unique challenges. Consequently, they evolve to have different navigational strategies.

                  所有动物固有的两个至关重要的信息是导航的基础：距离和方向。

                  Higher level animals may encode and may even prefer richer information to enhance the animal’s cognitive map. Nonetheless, distance and orientation will always be computed as a core process of cognitive mapping.

                  The desert ant, Cataglyphis fortis, can be up to 100 m from its nest foraging for food. However it is still able to navigate itself back to its nest. More impressively, it is able to determine the shortest route to get home.