RFID is an excellent way to track material on a pallet through a warehouse. A data tag is placed on the pallet and is read by a read/write head when it comes in range. Commonly used to identify when the pallet goes through the different stages of its scheduled process, RFID provides an easy way to know where material is throughout a process and learn how long it takes for product to go through each stage. But what if you need I/O on the pallet itself or an interchangeable end-of-arm tool?
Inductive Coupling
Inductive coupling delivers reliable transmission of data without contact. It is the same technology used to charge a cell phone wirelessly. There is a base and a remote, and when they are aligned within a certain distance, power and signal can be transferred between them as if it was a standard wire connection.
When a robot is changing end-of-arm tooling, inductive couplers can be used to power the end of arm tool without the worry of the maintenance that comes with a physical connection wearing out over time.
For another example of how inductive couplers can be used in a process like this, let’s say your process requires a robot to place parts on a metal product and weld them together. You want I/O on the pallet to tell the robot that the parts are in the right place before it welds them to the product. This requires the sensors to be powered on the pallet while also communicating back to the robot. Inductive couplers are a great solution because by communicating over an air gap, they do not need to be connected and disconnected when the pallet arrives or leaves the station. When the pallet comes into the station, the base and remote align, and all the I/O on the pallet is powered and can communicate to the robot so it can perform the task.
Additionally, Inductive couplers can act as a unique identifier, much like an RFID system. For example, when a pallet filled with product A comes within range of the robot, the base and remote align telling the robot to perform action A. Conversely, when a pallet loaded with product B comes into range, the robot communicates with the pallet and knows to perform a different task. This allows multiple products to go down the same line without as much changeover, thereby reducing errors and downtime.
