Laundry Robotics and Fizyr develop laundry-feeding solution
Fizyr, a provider of vision for robotic systems, has extended its partnership with Laundry Robotics, which initially started in 2016.
In the eight years since, the automatic towel feeder solutions, which Laundry Robotics named Robin and Roy, have been deployed in installations across Europe and North America.
Ken Fleming, Fizyr CEO says: “Laundry Robotics has been an amazing company to partner with over the years.
“Being able to collaborate with them on best-of-breed solutions like Robin and Roy is a testament to the impact of shared ingenuity in solving unique challenges within a specific industry.”
In high-variability laundry environments where towels arrive in piles, identifying the edges and corners of towels for picking is among the most difficult challenges. Fizyr’s deep learning vision uses segmentation, shape detection and material detection to do just that.
Its algorithms then prioritize the actions to take, utilizing cascade learning to analyze inputs, calculate optimal actions and direct the robot.
After each pick, a new image allows Fizyr to recalculate, account for any changes that occurred, and direct the robot’s next step, all in a fraction of a second.
Utilizing Fizyr’s advanced vision, which considers more than 100 grasp poses each second, Robin and Roy can feed more than 600 towels per hour to a folding machine, identifying the best grasp position for any type of towel regardless of placement or variability.
Fizyr detects corners, logo position and placement, and ensures all clothing, garments and other items are removed from the folding process.
Robin’s 24/7 capability helps laundries overcome labor shortages and save wear and tear on employees by handling repetitive tasks while increasing throughput in folding.
Erwin Maassen, co-founder of Laundry Robotics, says: “Fizyr’s unparalleled vision made it the ideal complement to Robin and Roy.
“The rapid analysis and decision making ensures Robin works at peak efficiency 24/7 to maximize feeding to a towel folder from any brand. Robin and Roy are all about productivity, availability and quality.”