VisionPro makes a famous Dutch blonde even more attractive…

VisionPro makes a famous Dutch blonde even more attractive…

The Grolsch brewery in the Netherlands, one of the largest Dutch breweries, relies on the expertise of two German companies who built them a machine with one simple goal - to sell more beer! The machine in question is not a mere beverage dispenser but a system relying on VisionPro from Cognex which uses special grippers to rotate and align the bottles so that they are in the best position with optimum visibility. Tradition, innovation and business thinking are all combined into a beverage machine which promotes sales.

Improving presentation at the point of sale
As one of the leading companies in the brewery industry, Grolsche Bierbrouwerij Nederland B.V. does not only concentrate on optimising its logos, labels and other advertising media. The company thought about how it could improve the presentation of its product at the point of sale. As a result, Grolsch rotates the bottles which are visible through the opening in the crate so that their labels point symmetrically towards the outside, thus allowing them to project the optimal image to the beer connoisseur in the supermarket. Bottles are rotated rapidly at a rate of 400 per minute with the end goal of influencing the customer. It’s subtle but the effect is clear - customers pick up a crate of Grolsch beer more often than they would have otherwise.

The challenge - ensure a premium beer is in a premium position
The experts who make sure that the Grolsch swing-top bottles are in the correct position before they start their journey to the customer come from a company which has specialised in sophisticated beverage and packaging machine solutions for over 35 years: the German company RICO-Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. RICO was supported in designing the system by fellow Germans aku.automation GmbH, a member of the Cognex partner integrator network, who specialise in ensuring that machines are in harmony with their production environment: The two companies developed a pioneering solution which combines the latest automation technology with intelligent vision technology and the software solutions of Cognex to accurately move the Grolsch bottles into the desired position.

Lights, camera, action!
The system operates with two parallel conveyor belts transporting up to 3000 crates per hour through the bottle alignment machine, with each crate holding 16 swing-top bottles. However, only the eight bottles in each crate with labels that are visible through the side opening have to be rotated. 10 crates are processed per cycle. Two industrial cameras are positioned approximately 1.5 metres above the conveyor belts with each camera monitoring the five crates on its respective belt. The two cameras are intelligently embedded into homogenous area lighting units, which provide optimal illumination without casting undesirable shadows.

VisionPro from Cognex tackles bottle alignment
Two factors make it easy for the machine to identify the position of the total number of 80 bottles. Firstly, the swing-top cap with Grolsch logo - the alignment of the cap is used to ensure that the bottle labels are always applied at the same position ahead of the rotation process. Secondly, VisionPro, the PC vision platform from Cognex is well suited to the bottle alignment machine because it was specially designed for multi-camera applications with low cycle rates and large numbers of evaluation targets. To date, the VisionPro tool library has proven its capabilities in over 400,000 systems worldwide.

24,000 bottles rotated per hour in a tough environment
After the object localisation step, the bottles are then aligned. Special pneumatic grippers from RICO for swing-top caps grip the bottles and lift them up slightly. Small servo motors then convert the previously identified values into the target positions. They rotate the bottles to the correct position based on a rotation angle in degrees which is individually determined for each bottle. This is an enormous job considering that 24,000 bottles have to be rotated every hour. In addition, all of this takes place in an area where the technology is permanently at risk from one of the substances it tolerates the least - water!
Meeting factory floor needs
aku.automation was actively involved in the project right from the system planning phase, which put the company in a position to develop a reliable and robust inspection system. The experience of this specialist in object-oriented checking has been combined with RICO’s comprehensive knowledge about the special requirements of the beverage industry to produce solutions which are more than capable of meeting the practical requirements of the industry. For example, both the illumination systems and the cameras are accommodated in very sturdy, watertight stainless steel housings. This was necessary because although these components are installed above the production line and do not come into direct contact with the beverage already inside the bottle, the experts from RICO know that cleaning operations in beverage production plants always involve plenty of water spray and that cleaning staff cannot be expected to avoid sensitive components.

A great deal of experience, tradition and specialist knowledge have been combined with the latest technology and innovative vision software to produce a system which shows the Grolsch brand and the companies involved in the best light imaginable - a true marketing machine!

Vision – the innovation necessary to sort 180,000 parts per day

Vision – the innovation necessary to sort 180,000 parts per day

Innovative German machine builder, Schuster-Präzision found themselves faced with the challenge of providing a customer with a machine that could accurately sort 180,000 drill parts every day. They chose Cognex vision systems as the robust and innovative component that would make the difference on their sorting machines.

Many metal processing companies use their specialised machines for the production of what accounts for approximately 97% of all drill components produced globally. These range from large masonry and metal drills right down to fine drills for medical use. As a manufacturer of special machines, Schuster-Präzision, Germany, ensures that their customers can assure the smooth running of various processes such as sorting, turning, milling and cutting parts to the correct length. Quality assurance and automation technology are of the highest priority. When it comes to the sorting of large numbers of parts, it is essential that the systems performing the task are completely reliable and capable of enduring the rigors of continuous operation.

Key component – In-Sight vision systems

One of the most important components of these special machines are In-Sight vision systems from Cognex. For example, one of Schuster’s largest customers, who manufactures 180,000 drill pieces per day, can count on 100% accurate sorting thanks to these precise sensors.

In the first step of the sorting process, the container of the machine, which is equipped with an In-Sight 5100 from Cognex, is filled with several thousand drill components. A sliding mechanism then moves the individual pieces down a ramp and on to a conveyor line.

In-Sight guarantees correct part positioning and orientation

The In-Sight and a special gripper ensure that the heads of the drill bits point in the correct direction. With its precise sensors, the system detects the positions of the parts and transfers this information to the microprocessor of the container. If a drill component is positioned correctly, it is simply transported further on towards the output area. If a drill piece is not positioned correctly however , the In-Sight informs the gripper who grabs it and positions it correctly so it can continue to the output area with the other pieces. This is a simple process but it requires reliable machine components because of the large numbers of parts being processed.

In-Sight - robust vision for a tough industrial environment

As in many other areas of the metal processing industry, machines must be robust in order to achieve required precision, reliability and to operate round-the-clock. The vibrations caused by mechanical conveyors, jolts from pneumatic systems and the dust in the production areas present quite a challenge to precision machinery. Vision systems from Cognex are built to be particularly robust so that quality standards are always maintained, even under the most difficult conditions. Equipped with die cast housings, lens protectors and M12 connectors with seals, they can withstand even the roughest industrial environments.

The indispensable tool

Today, the In-Sight 5000 family is indispensable for Schuster-Präzision because it guarantees high-quality production systems. General manager and company founder Helmut Schuster can no longer imagine his special machines without Cognex systems, “With Cognex, complete reliability, innovative technologies and excellent service allow us to meet our quality standards 100% of the time and allow us to plan our business effectively. Another benefit is that In-Sight can be operated simply and reliably.”

Bottle crown and cap inspection

100% fault detection on high-speed bottle crowning line

Integrating a user-friendly vision sensors into a multiple-product bottle crowning line provides a simple solution to fault detecting for leading Australian brewery.

Tooheys currently produces more than 300 million liters of beer annually from its Lidcombe-based brewery in Sydney’s west. Any company operating in a production critical industry on this scale knows just how damaging undetected product defects can be to business and understands the true value of an effective product defect inspection system. At Tooheys, two product lines running multiple bottled products are required to make frequent product changes – often in the course of a 24-hour period. With each product change requiring a change in bottle crown or cap incorrect bottle crowning can occur. Add to this a line speed running at 1200 bottles per minute and it is easy to see why a fast and reliable defect inspection solution was necessary to satisfy Tooheys’ stringent quality controls.

A high-tech solution for high-speed production
Machinery Automation & Robotics’ (MAR) approach to the bottle crowning inspection project at Tooheys was simple. Use advanced technology to create a user-friendly solution. The Cognex Insight 5400 vision sensor was selected for its speed and interface ability, its capacity to detect defects in any 360-degree orientation and its robust design – the system undergoes regular wash downs. And the ability to make changes to the threshold determining acceptance of variable product qualities – detecting scratches, water blobs, misprints or print faults, for example – means that the defective product rejection accuracy rate of the Cognex Insight vision system is extremely high.

The vision system at work
Two Cognex Insight 5400 vision sensors are installed on Tooheys’ AB2 bottling lines, each inspecting for correct crown placement on the product selected. Product selection itself is achieved simply via a touch screen/HMI. The camera is mounted on an adjustable post, specifically designed to allow for bottle height variations. Upon product selection the camera is simply moved up or down to maintain a camera focal length of 125mm from the top of the bottle crown. Along with the camera itself, the mounting bracket houses a DOAL lighting system, used to emit a red light on to the crowns. The red-cut lens cover filters out ambient light, resulting in a highly accurate image being captured by the camera.

All controls for the vision sensors are wired back to the line’s main electrical panel. Within the panel lies the power supply for the DOAL lighting system and the Insight cameras. The panel also houses the I/O module. This module interfaces with the vision sensor and the PLC, allowing product changes to be loaded into In-Sight and output changes to be relayed to the reject mechanism. Consequently, if an incorrect crown is detected the bottle is rejected further down the line via a delayed signal sent from the PLC. For ease, the cameras can be monitored via an Ethernet connection back to a local PC. Program changes can also be made at this point with the Cognex Insight Explorer software, making new product changes very simple.

Working together for independence
By adopting a strong teamwork approach to this project MAR has designed and engineered a vision sensor solution employing user-friendly software, which Tooheys is able to fully operate independently. Acting in an advisory capacity MAR provided assistance with the initial integration process enabling Tooheys’ staff to undertake the vision system installation autonomously. Comprehensive training provided to Tooheys’ staff by MAR on software installation, programming and modifications, bottle crown changeover processes, and basic operational procedures for the Cognex Insight vision systems package has allowed Tooheys to undertake subsequent unit installations and programming.

Adding up the benefits
Addressing the issue of defect detection on high speed, multiple product production lines with a simple yet effective integrated vision system solution has provided Tooheys with many benefits including:
• An integrated vision system including electrical and mechanical design, software and functional design, vision I/O interface to PLC, installation, modification and on-line commissioning
• A user-friendly vision system solution and comprehensive training package enabling independent installation, programming and operation by the client
• An effective partnership of world-leading Cognex vision technology and MAR’s extensive vision system integration experience
• Expertise in lens, lighting and camera selections
• A robust and reliable vision system designed for high-speed lines

Technology at work for Tooheys
• The control system features a Siemens S7 PLC and uses software code and field sensors to detect product to be inspected by the vision sensors and provide relevant outputs to operate the reject mechanism
• Two high-speed outputs are standard with the vision system.
• The interface between the Cognex Insight 5400 cameras and the Siemens PLC is via a Cognex I/O module and a field cable link. The I/O module then inputs to the Siemens PLC in the same panel
• A single Cognex Insight 5400 camera inspects multiple defects in one image capture and recognition process at the above line speed
• The recognition tools available with the Cognex Insight Vision system detect incorrect, damaged or misprinted bottle crowns in any 360-degree orientation at typical line speeds
• Custom selected lighting solutions provide adequate lighting for each inspection station and remove ambient light changes adversely affecting the visual inspection process
• The Cognex Insight vision system has a high wash down rating IP67