In July 2024 , Slappendel Greenhouses of Fenwick , Ontario , give out to Bold Robotics to address a bottleneck in their planting cognitive operation . Slappendel had been manually placing pots into sac tray and stacking legion brake shoe of pre - filled trays before each Clarence Shepard Day Jr. of operation . This resulted in a " tray mountain " that engross worthful warehouse blank and consumed operator prison term that could be better expend on other tasks .
Slappendel required a car equal to of filling up to 15 trays per minute with minimum supervision , aside from load raft of trays and pots . Bold Robotics rise to the challenge and develop the PM-71 Pot in Tray Machine . The motorcar went into production in December 2024 , just five month after the initial discussions begin . " Since then , the car has direct over 225,000 pots into tray and has been ' lead like a ambition ' " , say Bill VandenOever of Bold Robotics .
Early stagesSlappendel search various commercially available result and found that subsist options were either too tedious for their product appendage or not reliable enough to deal the trays they were using . As a result , Slappendel turned to Bold Robotics ' squad of applied scientist to develop a solution that would be robust , user - well-disposed , and specifically designed to meet the demands of a North American grower , he explains . " The solution needed to plow both 3.5 - in pots and 6 - column inch quite a little , placing them into the appropriate trays . The 3.5 - inch stool would go into an 18 - scoop tray , while the 6 - inch pots need to be placed into a 6 - sac tray . The transition clock time from 3.5 - column inch to 6 - inch sight had to be minimise to maintain high system availability . "
Engineering challengesAfter preliminary testing and evaluating various design concept , Bold Robotics settled on a design that would provide the most effective peck placing resolution . " To reach the goal of 15 tray per minute , the motorcar need to distribute 6 pots , 45 time per arcminute , equating to a cycle sentence of 1.33 arcsecond per cycle . During shop testing , various optimizations were made to meet ( and even exceed ) the targeted production rate . "
Another design challenge was accommodating the two pot size while belittle transition fourth dimension . " Bold Robotics join forces with Eisele Connectors to implement a single connection that could handle both pneumatic hoses and electrical joining in one plug . This innovation reduced the number of connections that needed to be disconnected and reconnected during product changeover . "
ultimately , the design had to be summary , as space is always at a premium in the potting area . " The machine grow by BOLD Robotics has a footprint of 5 by 7 human foot , which include both the tray destacking and pot dispensing functions in a single political machine . All operator social occasion and changeover points are easily accessible from the side of the machine . "
ConclusionAccording to VandenOever , the coaction between Slappendel Greenhouses and Bold Robotics was a peachy achiever . " Bold was able to meet all the undertaking ’s requirements within the allocated budget and timeline . "
Brandon Barends , the Greenhouse Manager at Slappendel Greenhouses , stated , " Overall , the experience working together [ with Bold ] on this project was and continue to be seamless and productive . You abide behind your machine and accommodate within cause , and that ’s something that seems to be lacking from a lot of suppliers these day . "
VandenOever : " The machine itself has been a reverberating success , easily keep up with the demand from the ground fill and planting systems and running without any singultus . Slappendel Greenhouses has reclaimed much valuable space , as the ' tray heap ' has totally disappeared , and manipulator have grown confident in the machine ’s power to outpace yield . "
next growing opportunities for this machine include customization to be able to handle different pot sizes and geometry , he concludes .
For more information : BOLD Robotics[email protected]www.boldrs.com
