What is pick-and-place?
Pick-and-place is an automated operation in which a robot, manipulator or placement machine picks up an object, moves it and puts it down at another location with a defined position and orientation. It is one of the most common applications in industrial automation: from placing chip components on circuit boards to packing biscuits, loading machines and palletising boxes. Within OT environments, a pick-and-place cell combines motion control, machine vision, real-time control, functional safety and industrial communication.
๐ง How does a pick-and-place cycle work?
Every pick-and-place operation runs through the same chain of steps. The speed of the complete cycle determines the capacity of the cell, and often the cycle time of the entire line.
| Step | What happens | Typical technology |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Detection | The object is found on a conveyor, in a tray or in a bin | Sensors, cameras, conveyor encoder |
| 2. Localisation | Position (X/Y/Z) and rotation are determined | 2D or 3D vision, Vision AI |
| 3. Path planning | The controller calculates a collision-free path | Robot controller, RTOS |
| 4. Picking | The gripper grasps the object | Vacuum, mechanical or magnetic gripper |
| 5. Moving | Fast, synchronised motion | Servo motors, encoders |
| 6. Placing and releasing | Putting down within tolerance, vacuum blow-off | Pneumatics, position monitoring |
The servo drives control position, velocity and current in cascaded control loops, usually with P and PI controllers and fast encoder feedback.
On moving conveyors, the robot follows the product while picking it (conveyor tracking): an encoder on the belt continuously reports its position, so the controller can synchronise robot motion with the conveyor. This requires low latency and deterministic behaviour from both the control system and the network.
๐ฆพ Which robot types are used for pick-and-place?
The choice of robot type depends on speed, payload, workspace and the degrees of freedom the task requires.
| Type | Characteristic | Typical application |
|---|---|---|
| Delta robot | Three light parallel arms from a fixed frame, very high acceleration | Sorting and packing food, confectionery and pharmaceutical products |
| SCARA robot | Rigid vertically, compliant in the horizontal plane | Fast assembly, pin-in-hole insertion, tray loading |
| Articulated robot (6-axis) | Large workspace, free orientation | Machine tending, palletising, heavy parts |
| Gantry (Cartesian) | Linear axes, large working area, very accurate | SMT placement machines, large flat workpieces |
| Cobot | Power and force limiting, works alongside people | Small batches, SMEs, end-of-line packing |
The delta robot was developed in the early 1980s by a team led by Reymond Clavel at EPFL in Lausanne, originally to place pralines into packaging at high speed. Demaurex licensed the design in 1987, and ABB launched its FlexPicker in 1999. The SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) emerged between 1978 and 1981 from a Japanese consortium led by Professor Hiroshi Makino of the University of Yamanashi; the first commercial SCARA robots appeared in 1981.
๐ง What types of grippers and end-effectors are there?
The gripper, or end-effector, determines how reliably an object is picked up and is often the most underestimated component of the cell.
- Vacuum gripper - suction cups with a venturi or vacuum pump; ideal for boxes, film, glass and flat parts. A vacuum switch confirms that the product is held.
- Mechanical gripper - two- or three-finger grippers, driven pneumatically or electrically as an actuator; suited to fixed shapes and machine tending.
- Magnetic gripper - electro or permanent magnets for sheet metal and metal components.
- Soft gripper - flexible silicone fingers for fragile products such as fruit, pastries and meat.
- Adaptive gripper - servo-driven fingers that adapt to different shapes, useful in high-mix production.
The choice depends on weight, shape, material, surface, required speed and hygiene requirements. In the food industry, cleanability and material choice carry a lot of weight.
๐ญ Where is pick-and-place used?
| Sector | Application | Characteristic |
|---|---|---|
| Electronics | Placing SMD components on circuit boards | Tens of thousands of components per hour, micrometre accuracy |
| Food and beverage | Packing, sorting, placing in trays | Delta robots, hygienic design |
| Pharma | Handling blisters, vials and syringes | Validation and traceability |
| Automotive | Assembly, machine tending | Articulated robots for heavy parts and machine tending |
| Logistics | Order picking, depalletising, sorting | Vision AI for varying items, link to the WMS |
In the electronics industry, the pick-and-place machine is a machine class of its own. According to the manufacturer, a modern SMT placer such as the ASMPT SIPLACE TX achieves up to around 96,000 components per hour (cph) with an accuracy of 25 ยตm at 3ฯ, and places components down to the 0201 metric size (0.2 ร 0.1 mm). The IPC-9850 standard (2002, revised as IPC-9850A in 2011) describes how the speed and accuracy of such machines are measured. Published cph figures apply under favourable test conditions; real-world output is often considerably lower.
In logistics, pick-and-place works together with AGVs, AMRs and conveyors. Items are identified by barcodes or vision, and the robot receives its orders from the warehouse management system.
๐ What performance is typical?
Manufacturers specify performance using a few standard figures. Repeatability is measured according to ISO 9283.
| Metric | Typical value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Delta robot repeatability | approx. 0.1 mm | ABB IRB 360: 0.1 mm |
| SCARA repeatability | a few hundredths of a mm | Small SCARA robots sit at the low end of the range |
| Standard 25/305/25 mm cycle | 0.3โ0.4 s | 25 mm up, 305 mm across, 25 mm down and back |
| Delta robot picks per minute | 100 to over 150 | Theoretically up to around 300 for very light products |
| SMT placer | tens of thousands of cph | Measured according to IPC-9850 |
The 25/305/25 cycle (also called the Adept cycle) is the common reference for comparing robot speed. ABB quotes 0.30 s at 0.1 kg and 0.36 s at 1 kg for the IRB 360-1/1130, including 35 ms activation time each for picking and placing. In a real application, longer moves, heavier products and waiting for vision reduce that speed, so always simulate with a digital twin or a test rig.
๐ก How is a pick-and-place cell integrated into OT?
A pick-and-place cell communicates at several levels:
- Field level - IO-Link for grippers and sensors; ProfiNET, EtherCAT or IP for real-time control of the robot and drives.
- Cell control - a PLC coordinates conveyor, robot, vision and safety; Modbus TCP appears in simple connections.
- Higher-level systems - OPC UA (with the companion specification OPC 40010-1 OPC UA for Robotics) and MQTT deliver status, alarms and counters to SCADA, MES, a historian or a Unified Namespace.
Standardised machine states according to PackML make it easier to include the cell in a packaging line and to calculate OEE. Through edge computing, the IIoT and industrial AI, pick-and-place becomes part of Industry 4.0: vision models based on machine learning and AI recognise unsorted products (bin picking) that classic rule-based vision cannot handle.
๐ก๏ธ Which safety requirements apply to pick-and-place?
A pick-and-place cell contains fast-moving parts and falls under the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, which will be replaced by the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 from 20 January 2027. The integrator carries out a risk assessment and provides the CE marking for the complete cell.
| Standard | Topic |
|---|---|
| ISO 12100 | General principles for risk assessment and risk reduction |
| ISO 10218-1 / -2:2025 | Safety of the industrial robot and of the robot cell; incorporates the cobot requirements of ISO/TS 15066 |
| ISO 13849 | Safety-related parts of control systems, expressed as Performance Level (PL) |
| IEC 62061 | Functional safety of machine control systems, expressed as SIL |
| IEC 61508 | Basic standard for functional safety of electronic systems |
| ISO 13855 | Safety distances to protective devices |
| IEC 61496 | Electro-sensitive protective equipment, such as light curtains |
Typical measures include an emergency stop, fencing with interlocked doors, a light curtain or safety laser scanner at the infeed, speed and position monitoring in the robot controller, and a safety PLC or safety relay. Safety and compliance start with the design of the cell, not at handover.
๐ How do you secure a connected pick-and-place cell?
Robot controllers, vision PCs and drives are network devices with firmware, web interfaces and often remote access for the supplier. That makes them part of your cybersecurity landscape and requires OT-specific security.
| Risk | Possible consequence | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| Tampering with robot program or parameters | Production errors, unsafe motion | Change management, application whitelisting |
| Malware on vision or HMI PC | Line stoppage | Patch management, hardening |
| Unsecured supplier access | Unauthorised changes | Controlled remote access, Zero Trust |
| Attacks on the cell network | Loss of synchronisation | Network segmentation, IDS |
| Tampered firmware | Controller takeover | Secure boot, signed updates |
Central logging of changes and login attempts makes incidents traceable. IEC 62443 provides the framework for zones, conduits and security levels; the Machinery Regulation additionally requires protection against corruption of safety functions, and the Cyber Resilience Act imposes security requirements on products with digital elements, with reporting obligations from 11 September 2026 and full application from 11 December 2027.
โ๏ธ What are the benefits and challenges of pick-and-place?
Automating pick-and-place raises productivity and delivers consistent quality, because a robot repeats the same motion day and night without fatigue or handling errors. Staff are freed from monotonous and physically demanding work, and the cell supports lean working and high-mix production, as a new product often needs only a different program or a gripper change. These benefits come with real challenges.
| Challenge | Why it is difficult | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Integration | Linking with existing OT systems, conveyors and PLCs | Agree an interface specification and standardised states early |
| Variable products | Changing shapes and shiny or transparent surfaces complicate vision | Test with real product samples, 3D vision or AI models |
| Precision requirements | Tight tolerances demand accurate motion control | Right robot choice, rigid construction, calibration |
| Safety and compliance | Strict machinery regulation | Risk assessment from the design stage |
| Cybersecurity | Growing connectivity of controllers and vision PCs | Segmentation and control of supplier access |
| Maintenance | Wear of suction cups, grippers and belts | Periodic calibration and preventive replacement |
๐งญ How do you approach a pick-and-place project?
- Analyse the product - weight, dimensions, variation, surface and hygiene requirements determine the gripper and robot type.
- Determine the required capacity - picks per minute, available cycle time and spare capacity for disturbances.
- Choose robot and gripper - compare 25/305/25 cycle time, repeatability and payload.
- Simulate the cell - check reach, cycle time and collisions in a digital twin.
- Carry out the risk assessment - according to ISO 12100 and ISO 10218-2, and determine the required PL or SIL.
- Design the OT integration - PLC, vision, network segment and connection to MES or lean line control.
- Test and commission - FAT and SAT, validation of safety functions, operator training.
In the Netherlands, this approach can be seen at food manufacturers using delta robots in packaging lines, at electronics producers with SMT lines and at distribution centres that combine robotic picking with mobile robots. Many SMEs start with a cobot for end-of-line packing, because both the investment and the floor space required are limited.
โ Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a pick-and-place robot and an SMT placement machine?
A pick-and-place robot is a general-purpose robot, such as a delta or SCARA robot, that moves a wide range of products. An SMT placement machine is a specialised gantry machine that places electronic components from reels and trays onto circuit boards. Both perform pick-and-place, but the SMT machine is optimised for micrometre accuracy and tens of thousands of components per hour.
How fast is a pick-and-place robot?
A delta robot completes the standard 25/305/25 mm cycle in about 0.3 to 0.4 seconds, which amounts to more than 150 picks per minute for light products. In real applications the speed is lower because of longer distances, heavier products and waiting time for vision. A simulation or practical test shows the actual pick-and-place capacity.
Why does pick-and-place need machine vision?
Machine vision tells the robot where a product is and how it is rotated, so products do not have to arrive in an exact position. Vision also often checks quality before the product is picked. Without vision, pick-and-place only works with fixed jigs or trays.
Which standard applies to the safety of a pick-and-place robot?
For industrial robots, ISO 10218 is the core standard: part 1 for the robot and part 2 for the robot cell, both revised in 2025. ISO 12100 also applies for risk assessment, and ISO 13849 or IEC 62061 for the safety functions. The legal framework is the Machinery Directive and, from 20 January 2027, the Machinery Regulation.
Can a cobot perform pick-and-place without fencing?
A cobot can perform pick-and-place without fencing if the risk assessment of the complete application shows that this is safe. Power and force limiting reduces the effects of contact, but a sharp product or heavy load may still require additional guarding. Cobots are also slower than delta or SCARA robots.
What is bin picking?
Bin picking is a form of pick-and-place in which a robot picks unsorted products from a bin. A 3D camera and vision software, often using machine learning, determine which product is reachable and where the gripper can grasp it. Bin picking is harder than picking from a conveyor because products overlap each other.
๐ In summary
Pick-and-place is the core automated operation of picking up, moving and accurately placing objects, performed by delta, SCARA, articulated or gantry robots and by specialised SMT machines.
The success of a pick-and-place cell depends on the right combination of robot type, gripper, vision and motion control, with performance you validate using the 25/305/25 cycle or IPC-9850. ISO 10218 and the Machinery Regulation govern safety, while IEC 62443 and the Cyber Resilience Act govern cybersecurity. Well integrated through OPC UA, PackML and MES, pick-and-place delivers not only speed and consistent quality, but also the production data for OEE and further optimisation.