A Neocortex® G2R (Goods to Robot) Cell is easy to deploy, like a collaborative robot. Yet it is uses an industrial Yaskawa Motoman robot with up to twice the capacity and 150% the speed of a collaborative robot (up to 800 items per hour).

How easy to deploy is the Neocortex G2R Cell? The average time for a Cell to be up and running at a customer site is one day.  See our fun time-lapse video here.  After it is up and running, our team then optimizes the robot and trains your operators. This contrasts with integrating an industrial robot system that may take weeks before being ready to run.  The Cell’s deployment efficiency is comparable a collaborative robot’s average setup time, which is about half a day.

So why are they so easy to deploy? Part of the answer is they are pre-engineered.  For instance, aspects of robot integration that take weeks or months are already figured out.  Examples include a variety of peripherals such as 2D/3D sensors, end of arm tool, safety barriers, electrical panel, and an operator panel appropriate for the application.

There are other pre-engineered specialized systems available on the market, such as robotic welding systems, that provide similar benefits.  Common sense tells us, however, that these systems target narrow applications where the robot, software, and peripherals can be standardized.

Yet the pre-engineered Neocortex G2R Cell stands alone in its ability to also be broadly usable in a wide range of applications. How is this possible when the items being picked are radically different? This is due to the Neocortex artificial intelligence combined with the high-speed Spatial Vision® software platform. The software is the secret sauce!

The patented AI recognizes a wide range of objects without CAD, models, or pre-configuration. (Note: it can use these if so desired).  If there is unique knowledge about an item that is not available other than by the operator (such as “do not stick a label here”), Neocortex enables the operator to train it in a minute or so, and then directs the robot to go back to work.

Because of this, the Neocortex G2R Cell can handle a wide range of applications from order fulfillment to random bin picking; from part induction to machine tending.

The Cell also easily re-deploys in other areas or with new processes.  The compact skid-mount frame fits into a human workspace, minimizing retrofitting an area. The G2R Cell ‘each picks’ an item from incoming bins, totes, boxes, or trays.  And because it recognizes random homogeneous or heterogeneous parts in a container, the Neocortex G2R Cell can manage upstream process changes as well.

Prices start at $120,000, and leases start at $2875 per month for 5 years.  The resulting 2-shift operating costs over 5 years is as low as $7/hour.

Check it out at www.universallogic.com/products/.

Hob Wubbena