A client came to the PSA team looking for a solution that would alleviate the potential injury risk for their workers who were picking up 50lb bags of product, carrying them up to a platform, and manually emptying them into a bin. After looking at their system, our engineers determined that we could automate the process, which would reduce the risk of strains as well as the risk of losing footing and falling off of the platform. We selected an ABB IRB460 palletizing robot and fitted it with a vacuum end effector to lift and move the bags. We also designed a custom bag slitter apparatus to cut and empty the bags into the hopper below. The robot would then discard the empty bags in the designated bin. We also implemented a safety guarding system around the robotic cell in order to maximize employee safety and keep all processes running smoothly.

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