Flexible Feeding System — feed a wide variety of parts on one machine.

01

What is a flexible feeder? — flexible feeding that replaces parts feeders and bowl feeders

Flexible feeding is a way of supplying parts that standardizes spreading (vibration or rotation), recognition (vision) and coordinate alignment (calibration) so that one machine feeds many different parts with repeatable picks. Unlike a part-specific parts feeder (bowl feeder), it feeds high-mix parts without swapping tooling, so it replaces the conventional parts feeder in high-mix, low-volume production.

02

A problem unsolved for 100 years

The way parts are fed has not fundamentally changed since the Industrial Revolution.

03

The line takes over the flexibility people used to provide

Piled-up parts, one at a time, like a person — the robot takes the arm, camera vision takes the eyes, and integrated control takes the judgment.

04

Bulk → pick-up, the five-step flow

The standardized parameters of each step are saved as a Recipe and switched together when the model changes.

1. 
   01 Bulk

   It starts with parts randomly mixed together.

2. 
   02 Feed

   A hopper or tray supplies the feeder and keeps the quantity steady.

3. 
   03 Spread

   Vibration patterns spread the parts out to reduce overlap and interference.

4. 
   04 Detect

   Vision computes pose, center coordinates and interference.

5. 
   05 Pick & Place

   The robot picks and places using the aligned coordinates.

05

System configuration

Made up of software, vision and feeders. See each product page for detailed specifications.

Watch it running →

FAQ

Flexible feeder — frequently asked questions

What is a flexible feeder?

A flexible feeder is a way of supplying parts that spreads them out by vibration or rotation, recognizes their position and pose with camera vision, and then uses coordinate alignment (calibration) to produce coordinates the robot can pick from directly. Unlike a part-specific bowl feeder, one machine feeds many different parts, and a model change is handled by switching the recipe.

What is the difference between a bowl feeder (vibratory bowl feeder) and a flexible feeder?

A bowl feeder needs a dedicated bowl and track built for each part, which suits feeding one part in high volume. A flexible feeder is vision-based, so it feeds many part types on one machine without part-specific tooling, and it handles parts a bowl feeder struggles with, such as thin sheets, rubber and springs. The more high-mix, low-volume your production, the more a flexible feeder has the advantage.

What part sizes and shapes can it feed?

Part size depends on the equipment combination and the lighting and lens setup. To date we have handled parts from 0.01 mm thin films to 125 mm medical components. Vibration-type (UniFeeder, AIVE) or rotary-type (FlexiBowl) is chosen to suit the part, and we check spreading, recognition and alignment feasibility in advance with your actual part samples.

How long does a product (model) changeover take?

Once vision, feeder and robot conditions are saved as a recipe, a model change is a single recipe-ID selection. Pick one recipe and the vision, robot and feeder conditions are applied together; with no part-specific tooling to swap, utilization on high-mix lines goes up.

Does it integrate with our existing robots and PLCs?

How deep we go differs by robot. Most robots receive the pick coordinates from us, and for two robots — Hyundai Robotics and Agilebot — we handle the robot program itself from our screen. Including PLC integration, every recipe and all equipment control runs together on the AimFactoryCore platform.

How do I get pricing or a quote?

The configuration depends on part types, target cycle time, installation space and the robot/PLC environment, so share your part information and we will review a suitable configuration and expected schedule, then quote. You can request a consultation through the contact page or by phone (+82-31-548-0748).