Automated packing systems: Review of industrial implementations

The problems involved in the automated packing and nesting of irregular shapes are not only of theoretical importance, but have considerable industrial interest. The ability to manipulate objects under visual control is one of the key tasks in the successful implementation of robotic, automated assembly and adaptive material handling systems. Such systems must be capable of dealing with a wide range of variable products and of operating in industrial environments that are not overly constrained. These systems will need to include the ability to manipulate arbitrary shapes in a flexible manner. Therefore, to automate this part of the manufacturing process we need to develop automated material handling systems that combine machine vision techniques and flexible packing strategies. A rich theoretical background to the problems that occur in the automation of material handling can be found in operations research, production engineering, systems engineering and automation, more specifically machine vision, literature. This work has contributed towards the design of intelligent handling systems. This paper will review the application of these automated material handling and packing techniques to industrial problems. The discussion will also highlight the systems integration issues involved in these applications. An outline of one such industrial application, the automated placement of shape templates on to leather hides, is also discussed. The purpose of this system is to arrange shape templates on a leather hide in an efficient manner, so as to minimize the leather waste, before they are automatically cut from the hide. These pieces are used in the furniture and car manufacturing industries for the upholstery of high quality leather chairs and car seats. Currently this type of operation is semi-automated. The paper will outline the problems involved in the full automation of such a procedure.