1  Introduction

Kortx™ is Summer Robotics’ product family of continuous 3D vision technologies designed for robotic vision applications. The vision system is the industry’s first continuous 3D solution capable of generating high-speed and high-precision 3D data streams for both low-latency robot guidance and 3D inspection.

The streaming 3D data from Kortx™ is unlike any camera-based solution, each datapoint is microsecond timestamped and converted to high-precision 3D coordinates using an advanced low-latency processing pipeline. This continuous, high-precision 3D data stream feeds into Kortx™’s novel 3D segmentation and 3D part-tracking algorithms which localize workpieces in the scene with sub-millimeter accuracy. The resulting 3D coordinates are sent to a robot controller for guiding the robot to execute precision tasks such as fastening, dispensing, or pick-and-place.

Kortx™ vision systems are ideal for robot-mounted applications where the sensor is fixed to the end-effector of a fast-moving robot arm, or when the robot arm is mounted onto a movable platform. Kortx™ sensors are small and lightweight so they can be easily mounted alongside other end-of-arm-tools to fit into constrained spaces without compromising the robot’s payload capacity. Furthermore, Kortx™ systems can be customized with various optics and configurations to achieve different field-of-views and focal points for various size workpieces and setups.

With Kortx™, customers can develop higher-speed, greater throughput automations with shorter cycle times. Customers can save costs and space by removing custom workholders, parts can be in various orientations and positions, even mounted on non-rigid moving assembly lines. Customers can save time, cost, and space in their facilities by achieving both robot-guided assembly and inspection with the same Kortx™ system. Furthermore, customers can save time and cost by eliminating robot re-programming and relying on Kortx™’s autonomous robot-guidance to adapt and offset a single toolpath across a wider range of workholders and setups.

Unlike other robotic vision solutions, Kortx™ is a highly-optimized hardware+software solution built from the ground up to deliver unmatched speed and precision for dynamic environments. Customers can achieve new levels of automation across a broader set of use-cases and build new solutions for their customers with Kortx™’s paradigm-shifting continuous 3D vision technology.