KUKA iiwa 14 – manipulation of ingredients

@ University of Lincoln, UK

Components: Wide range of HE robots, hi-res vision system, conveyor, vacuum actuator, laser scanners 

The KUKA iiwa is used to demonstrate human/robot collaboration in ingredients handling with a significant payload (up to 14Kg). It can be equipped with soft grippers, rigid grippers, vacuum or Bernoulli actuators. In terms of sensors, it can be equipped with fixed/attached 3D cameras for multiple tasks as quality control, ingredients manipulation and bin picking.  Also, interfaced with external sensors like digital scales and force sensors, it can be used for complex operations as ingredients loading and weighing. 

The robot is currently used to demonstrate liquid/powder ingredients dosing.  User can input the desired recipe and the robot selects the right containers and grasps them in the right sequence using 3D cameras and a rigid gripper.  It then pours the ingredients while controlling the weigh using force sensors, a digital scale and machine vision for advanced dynamics control (avoiding sloshing and spilling).  The operator can stop the task and inspect the ingredients by a physical safe interaction with the robot.