#robotics Logs

Mar 02 2022

03:19 PM gp5st: I'm working on a project where I need to label and fill a bag. Pushing the item in the work area into the bag isn't an issue, but I'm unsure of the best way to go about labeling and opening the bag. No specific type of bag is required, the bag will just contain fabric. Any suggestions?
03:32 PM mrdata: gp5st, does the label have to be human readable?
03:32 PM Tom_L: barcode
03:32 PM mrdata: many label devices are inkject
03:33 PM mrdata: *inkjet
03:33 PM Tom_L: i set up a POS with barcode years ago... worked great
03:33 PM Tom_L: used one of those little star printers for the labels
03:36 PM gp5st: mrdata, text and barcode my fall back was a zebra printer with a peeler and adding an actuator to stamp the label.
03:37 PM gp5st: but if there's an existing product/widget to do this, then all the better
03:38 PM mrdata: seems like inventory control has a need for this, so products must be available
03:38 PM mrdata: maybe digikey has something
03:38 PM gp5st: ditto with the bag openin and sealing. I can probably figure something out, but would prefer if there was something reliable and preexisting
03:39 PM mrdata: what do you know about the bag
03:39 PM gp5st: it all exists, I;m just not aware of not-integrated-into-a-whole-other-machine parts to do it
03:39 PM mrdata: what size, material
03:39 PM mrdata: shape
03:39 PM mrdata: openings
03:39 PM mrdata: seals
03:40 PM mrdata: digikey will have things like an inkjet print head, say, that you integrate
03:40 PM gp5st: all pretty open ended, it'll contain fabric cuttings
03:40 PM gp5st: I'm more than willing to just use a zebra (thermal) printer like the rest of our warehouse
03:41 PM mrdata: what if it were a common letter size manila paper envelope, say, with a fold and glue
03:41 PM mrdata: you could use suction to open it
03:42 PM mrdata: moist sponge to activate the glue
03:42 PM gp5st: yeah, I was thinking about using suction, or even just blasting air into the bag, and have a wicket of bags where once it's removed the next bag is opened
03:43 PM mrdata: can you reliably do hundreds of these
03:43 PM mrdata: and detect fails
03:44 PM mrdata: and exceptions
03:44 PM mrdata: like, last bag
03:44 PM mrdata: nothing in hopper waiting to be loaded
03:45 PM mrdata: how many degrees of freedom can you remove
03:45 PM gp5st: ooo, the term is "Automatic Label Applicator". I found these https://labelmill.com/lm-1510-automatic-label-applicator/ so probably a good starting point
03:47 PM gp5st: yeah, def trying to limit the problem to only the essentials
03:48 PM gp5st: hence trying to just find solutions for this stuff rather than having fun and building it out :D
03:49 PM gp5st: There's a bunch of other parts to this project that are much more custom
04:06 PM gp5st: mrdata, thanks for talking it through with me
07:21 PM Urawa is now known as Awaru