PRODUCT REVIEWS
AI robotics for long goods handling
Picking long goods is one of the last largely manual steps in otherwise highly automated production environments. Aluminium profiles can weigh up to 30kg, depending upon their length. Removing individual bars from a bundle is physically demanding and usually takes two people; miscounts during shipping are a frequent consequence.
Remmert, with Fraunhofer IOSB-INA, has therefore developed PickFLEX, a solution that automates exactly this process. It was presented at the Remmert Experience Day on 3 September 2026.
“ In many companies there is still a gap between storage and production that nobody has closed – precisely where the work is hardest,” commented Fabian Gries, Product Manager, Remmert.“ PickFLEX closes that gap. Because the system learns rather than being programmed, it grows with our customers’ requirements.”
Picking without pre-sorting
Unlike conventional robotics applications, PickFLEX does not require pre-sorted material at fixed coordinates. Cameras and AI-based image processing capture the actual position of the parts in the cassette, and the industrial robot picks accordingly. New materials are taught to the system, rather than programmed into it.
Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Wrede, Senior Scientist Robotics at Fraunhofer IOSB-INA, confirmed how demanding this can be in technical terms: long goods are highly variable and are stored in only semi-structured form. Reflective, glossy or dark surfaces make 3D detection difficult, yet millimetre accuracy is required across objects that are metres long.
Added to this are tilted and twisted parts, which make safe gripping points hard to determine, as well as large collision volumes, deflection and vibration as material is moved through the cell.
The jointly developed control architecture comprises AI perception with retrainable vision models, full scene reconstruction( including cassettes and dividers), autonomous decision-making on pick-andplace positions, and online path planning. All movements are calculated at runtime, so manual teaching is no longer necessary.
Development took place in simulation environments such as KUKA. Sim and NVIDIA Isaac Sim. Gripper tests were run physically at SmartFactoryOWL. Integration
PickFLEX packs materials from one cassette and places them into another cassette, which is then transported via a conveyor system to the order-picking area.
via ROS 2, KUKA. RSI and OPC UA keeps the system vendor-neutral, Remmert told ISMR.
Scalable and ready for integration
Vacuum or magnetic grippers enable PickFLEX to be adapted to different materials, with payloads ranging from approximately 50 to 300kg. The system can be combined with Remmert storage systems.
Typical applications include order picking before shipping and material supply for saws or window manufacturing machines. Remmert expects a fast return on investment, as the system reportedly takes over the work of around one-and-a-half people in multi-shift operation.
For Sebastian Wrede, the project is a good example of how different technical trends come together in a practical application. First, the shift from rigid rules to AI models that learn perception, grasping and motion from data. Second, training data from a digital twin validates the system before the real machine comes into play.
Generalist vision-language-action models that transfer capabilities between tasks will, according to Wrede, remain a research topic for industrial precision requirements for some time.
Continuous learning from experience and human feedback is also promising. In Fraunhofer research, around 20 human corrections raised the success rate of an assembly task from 20 to almost 100 percent. This approach could, in future, help handle jammed long goods, for example.
His conclusion: AI robotics does not replace conventional automation but complements models, control technology and engineering expertise with perception, adaptation and the ability to learn.
Storage, automation and intralogistics
Beyond the PickFLEX robot, Remmert already uses digital twin technology to emulate the control logic of complex storage systems. This significantly reduces commissioning times for high-bay warehouses, among other benefits.
Remmert integrates sheet metal storage, automation and machining equipment of all types into efficient, comprehensive solutions. As a specialist in intralogistics processes, Remmert focuses on productivity through automated warehouses, automation and software solutions. Its solutions are custom-made and designed for years of continuous operation. They are also modular for efficient adaptability and open-system with high integration capabilities.
Experience real-world examples live in 3D on Remmert’ s stand D76 in Hall 12 at EuroBLECH( 20-23 October 2026 in Hanover, Germany). n
www. remmert. de / en /
Image: © Remmert GmbH.
ISMR October 2026 | ismr. net | 105