Robotics: find robotic pickers, case packers, palletizers and other equipment at Pack Expo Las Vegas by using the Product Locators throughout the show

Robotic equipment has followed the same path as many other technological innovations: It has become more versatile and less expensive, which is causing it to be used in more situations than ever before.

Robots can now be commonly found at several points on the packaging line. Pick-and-place systems fill candy boxes, lunch kit trays, variety packs and other forms of packaging that require assembly. Robotic case packers can put cartons and other primary packages into corrugated cases, while robotic palletizers can operate at the end of the line.

Much of the improvements in robotics center on the vision systems that guide the robots' movements. These vision systems, and the software behind them, allow robots to distinguish pack styles and handle product carefully--all at higher rates of speed. As vision systems become more capable of distinguishing color, shape, dimensions and other parameters, they are capable of implementing sophisticated sorting strategies.

Processing in general is becoming distributed and decentralized, and robotics are no exception. Instead of a centralized cell controller, many systems now are using processors embedded inside robots. This provides both flexibility and scalability, enabling the end user to buy just enough functionality to meet the application's requirements.

Another significant advance in robotic technology has to do with servomotors, and the motion-control software used to run them. As servos get more sophisticated, they can perform more picks per minute, leading to faster performance and, in some cases, requiring fewer robots for an application.

Most robots are classified according to their axes of motion. The simplest kind have only two: horizontal and vertical. These often hang from overhead gantries. They are relatively inexpensive and straightforward, and often can handle heavy loads.

More sophisticated robots, sometimes known as "articulated," have four or six axes. When combined with vision systems, they can pick up and deposit primary packages with great precision. This is especially true for flexible packages and fragile products.