In the wave of smart manufacturing transformation, the limitations of traditional manual depalletizing are becoming increasingly evident—low efficiency, high labor costs, and significant safety risks. How to leverage technology to achieve automated depalletizing has become a key question for manufacturers looking to stay competitive.
Recently, Transfer Technology partnered with a leading enterprise to successfully deploy a 3D vision–guided intelligent depalletizing system. This real-world project sets a new benchmark for automation upgrades in material handling and bag feeding applications.
Customer Pain Points
In the bag depalletizing and feeding process at the customer’s plant, automation posed a real challenge. The customer was looking for an intelligent system that could meet several demanding requirements:
High-precision positioning:
Accurately recognize woven bags and PE bags of different sizes and materials, with positioning accuracy within ±5 mm.
High throughput:
A depalletizing cycle time of no more than 6 seconds per bag to support continuous production.
Flexible adaptation:
Compatibility with multiple stacking patterns (such as interlocked pallets) and different pallet types, including wooden and plastic pallets.
Environmental robustness:
Reliable operation under complex industrial conditions such as uneven lighting and equipment vibration.
Stable, long-term operation:
Seamless integration of hardware and software to ensure consistent, reliable performance over time.
Technical Challenges
Deploying intelligent depalletizing in a real factory environment is never simple. This project came with several key challenges:
Environmental interference
Uneven lighting, material deformation, occlusion, and on-site vibration can easily affect visual recognition accuracy.
Multiple bag types
The system needed to handle more than three different bag types with varying sizes and materials—and remain scalable for future additions.
System-level accuracy
Close coordination between the 3D vision system and the ESTUN robot was essential. End-to-end positioning accuracy had to be kept within ±5 mm—any deviation would directly impact picking success and overall efficiency.
Solution
With the Epic Eye D-L industrial 3D camera at its core, Transfer Technology delivered an integrated solution combining hardware, software, and services—designed specifically for real-world industrial deployment.
Hardware Foundation
High-precision 3D camera
Supports a working distance of 1,500–3,500 mm, adapting to different pallet heights. With an IP65 protection rating, it is built for harsh industrial environments.
Customized industrial PC
Powered by an Ubuntu system to meet real-time data processing requirements.
Anti-interference design
Dedicated industrial cables, vibration-resistant mounts, and light-shielding solutions ensure stable and reliable operation on site.
Algorithm Intelligence
Powered by Epic V1.0.0 vision software, the system uses deep learning models to quickly identify bag types, poses, and abnormal conditions such as damage or occlusion.
Integrated Transfer Technology SAMS customization services, enabling fast adaptation to new bag models with minimal deployment effort.
System Collaboration
Deep integration with ESTUN robots, using TCP/IP socket communication to transmit vision data in real time and ensure precise picking trajectories.
A specially designed suction gripper with elastic redundancy compensates for Z-axis deviations, significantly improving pick success rates.
Customer Value
By deploying Transfer Technology’s 3D vision solution, the customer achieved measurable improvements in both efficiency and operational reliability:
Productivity boost
Depalletizing cycle time reduced to 6 seconds per bag, increasing overall throughput by 40% and enabling 24/7 continuous operation.
High reliability
Vision positioning accuracy within ±5 mm and a recognition rate of up to 99%, backed by 7×24 technical support—bringing unplanned downtime close to zero.
Flexible production
One-click switching between pallet types and bag models, supporting multi-product and small-batch production.
Risk under control
IP65 protection, vibration-resistant design, and comprehensive warranty services ensure long-term system stability.
This collaboration is more than a single automation project—it is a deep, hands-on validation of intelligent depalletizing in real industrial scenarios.
As 3D vision and AI algorithms continue to evolve, intelligent depalletizing solutions will be deployed across more industries, accelerating the shift toward unmanned operations and flexible manufacturing. Smarter machines, higher efficiency — that’s the mission of Transfer Technology and a natural step forward in the era of intelligent manufacturing.
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