The Application locates pharmaceutical bottles randomly placed in a bin, guides a Motoman 6-axis robot to pick up these bottles pneumatically, reorients them, and subsequently places them with lids facing up into a tooled nest on an assembly platform.

Universal Robotics and Wright Industries, a subsidiary of Doerfer Companies, announced a demonstration of their adaptive vision guidance solution for pharmaceuticals using Universal Robotics Random Bin Picking application at MD&M East exposition in New York, held June 10 -12, 2014. The demonstrated robotic flexibility expands Doerfer's broad healthcare automation expertise into random medical device and medication handling that previously was not possible.

The Application locates pharmaceutical bottles randomly placed in a bin, guides a Motoman 6-axis robot to pick up these bottles pneumatically, reorients them, and subsequently places them with lids facing up into a tooled nest on an assembly platform.

For the healthcare industry, this enables automated assembly platforms to receive materials and medications without the need for traditional feeding hardware such as vibratory, centrifugal or tray feeders. The Doerfer Companies can integrate this technology into custom automation systems, helping to solve complex healthcare manufacturing problems.

Universal Robotics supports this Application through its signature technology, Neocortex®, which is a new form of interactive intelligence that uses 3D sensor information to learn. It was co-developed over seven years by NASA and Vanderbilt University, and was funded by U.S. Department of Defense, and has been tested at Fortune 200 companies. Neocortex's flexibility is not limited by rigid, programmatic approach of current 2D and 3D vision systems. Its smart vision guidance does not require a database of pre-measured objects with specific dimensions or patterns, nor does it need to slow down the process to measure the object in place.

This video shows a Motoman robot picking random pharmaceutical bottles from a bin, orienting them correctly, and placing them in a fixture.

The demonstration will be at Medical Device and Manufacturing MD&M East Show, held June 10 -12, 2014 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, NY. Visit with The Doerfer Companies and Universal Robotics, as well as see the demonstration at Booth # 2733.

About Doerfer Companies
Doerfer Companies designs, manufactures, and integrates factory automation systems for the unique process and product manufacturing needs of the healthcare industry, as well as automotive, aerospace/defense, consumer, and nuclear industries. Doerfer's 600+ person team creates manufacturing solutions by leveraging significant experience in assembly, packaging, controls, testing, and inspection systems. The Doerfer Companies have four US locations and one Asian location.

About Universal Robotics
Universal Robotics, a software engineering company, creates state-of-the-art machine intelligence with multi-dimensional sensing and motion control to expand the reach of automation for a host of applications, making machines more flexible and providing learning from big data.