Internship or graduation: Software - Detecting sub-assemblies

What are you going to do?

At Voortman, we use the Fabricator, an automated welding machine with industrial robot arms. This machine has a handling robot to position the parts to the beam and one or multiple welding robots to weld those parts to the beam. The parts that need to be positioned on the beam will be put on the infeed table by the operator. The operator is free to put the parts on the table as he sees fit, as long as they do not lie on top of each other. This table will be scanned using a line laser equipped to the handling robot. This gives a 3D representation of the parts on the table in the form of a point cloud. With this point cloud we detect which parts are placed where on the table. Currently this works for plates and a few other profile types. However the machine is also able to handle so called ‘sub-assemblies’. These are basically plates or profiles that are already assembled together before feeding it to the machine. These sub-assemblies can have all kind of shapes and are therefore also more difficult to detect.

Your challenge is to develop a method to accurately detect and position sub-assemblies. You are free to choose your approach, but the line laser must be used. You can either build on the existing algorithm or develop a completely new solution. You will:

• Create a design on how to implement this with the existing software;

• Come up with a way to detect the correct sub-assemblies;

  • Given an expected set of sub-assemblies

  • Using the 3D scanner mounted on the handling robot;

• Come up with a way to detect the correct orientation of the sub assembly;

• The solution should be efficient, as it happens during the running cycle;

• Take maintainability and testability into account.

We ask

• HBO or University education in Computer Science or related fields.

We offer

• Internship allowance of €600,- per month;

• Travel allowance: so you do not incur unnecessary expenses;

• Equipment and materials: for example, a laptop, special tools or software;

• Experienced coach: good guidance is important and so you will get a permanent coach to support you.

About Voortman

What started in a small chicken shed in Rijssen in 1968 has grown into a global leader in CNC steel processing machines. With over 750 professionals worldwide, we develop and build high-end machines and intelligent software that automate and optimize production processes all over the world.