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Start by separating two symptoms: a case that slips or falls while the robot is carrying it indicates a pickup or grip problem; a case that remains held but lands crooked, offset, or on the wrong spot indicates a presentation, measurement, coordinate, or pallet-state problem. Stop the cell and follow your site’s lockout, guarding, and restart procedures before inspecting a dropped load. Then use the checks below with the manuals for your installed robot, controller, and end effector.
First classify what went wrong
Watch the sequence, using recorded cell data if available, without entering the guarded area. Note whether the case was ever confirmed as securely gripped, when the grip signal changed, and whether the robot reached the programmed placement point.
| Observed symptom | Most useful diagnostic direction | Checks to prioritize |
|---|---|---|
| The case slips or falls during travel | Grip confirmation, vacuum, air, tooling contact, or power behavior | Vacuum signal, cups, leaks, compressed-air supply, waiting time, interruptions, and end-effector contact |
| The robot carries the case securely but places it crooked or offset | Case presentation, grip centering, dimensions, TCP, pallet geometry, or pallet-state data | Conveyor stop position, configured grip point, box dimensions, TCP, pallet height, coordinates, and the virtual pallet view |
| The error grows from one layer to the next | Accumulated measurement or pallet-state error | Actual case dimensions, layer height, pallet height, coordinate origin, and whether the controller’s stack matches the physical stack |
| A suction timeout occurs before or during pickup | Detection settings or pneumatic integrity | Suction detection, vacuum wait time, circuit sealing, air supply, and sensor operation |
These are diagnostic directions rather than a universal fault tree. The exact alarms, signals, and recovery sequence depend on the robot and gripper model.
Make the cell safe before hands-on checks
A dropped case can create a crush or impact hazard, and loss of vacuum can leave a load unsupported. Robotiq’s safety documentation states: “Loss of vacuum can occur due to power failure or air supply interruption.” Treat that as a reason to control stored energy and prevent an unexpected restart, not as permission to enter an active cell.
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- Use the site’s emergency-stop, isolation, lockout/tagout, and guarding procedure.
- Prevent automatic restart and verify the robot, conveyor, pneumatic circuit, and gripper cannot move unexpectedly.
- Support or remove any suspended, leaning, or damaged case using approved handling equipment.
- Check the installed robot and end-effector manuals for the permitted inspection, reset, and test procedure. Do not rely on a generic controller sequence.
- After the cause is corrected, run a controlled dry cycle or low-risk test according to your risk assessment before returning to production.
If the case was not securely picked
Verify the grip or vacuum confirmation
Check the vacuum sensor, pressure switch, or gripper-ready signal at the controller and compare its reading with the limits specified for the installed system. A robot can complete a programmed motion even when the case is not adequately attached if the signal is missing, delayed, bypassed, or configured incorrectly.
- Confirm that the controller receives a valid grip signal after the pickup command.
- Check whether suction detection is enabled and whether the configured detection condition matches the installed sensor.
- Review the vacuum waiting time. A value that is too short can declare failure before the circuit reaches its normal level; a value that is too long can delay detection of a genuine problem. Use the machine-specific manual rather than a generic number.
- Look for intermittent signals that coincide with cable movement, connector vibration, or a power event.
Inspect cups and the case contact surface
Examine every suction cup for cuts, hardening, deformation, contamination, or a loose mounting. Check that the cup face contacts a reasonably flat, clean area of the carton and that no flap, seam, label edge, hole, or crushed corner prevents sealing. Rounded or irregular case faces may require a different contact arrangement or tooling approach.
Replace a damaged cup only with a type that matches the gripper’s mounting, material, size, and operating requirements. The available documentation supports replacement cups as a possible remedy when inspection finds damage, but it does not establish a universal part number or a generally compatible substitute.
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Inspect tubing, fittings, manifolds, valves, and the gripper body for a circuit leak. A small leak can be enough to prevent the system from reaching its grip threshold, especially on porous or uneven cartons. Follow the installed system’s approved leak-check method; do not improvise a pressure test that could damage components.
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Confirm that compressed air is available and stable at the point of use, that isolation valves are open, and that filters, regulators, and drains are in their normal service condition. Ducorobots troubleshooting guidance identifies suction detection, waiting time, circuit sealing, and compressed-air supply among possible causes of a suction timeout. Those items should be checked together rather than changing one setting blindly.
Look for power or air interruptions
Review controller, I/O, and facility-event logs for a brief power interruption, an air-supply interruption, or an emergency-stop event at the time of the drop. Also check whether a valve, vacuum generator, or sensor loses state when the robot accelerates or the cable dress moves. Correct the underlying interruption and verify the recovery behavior specified by the equipment manufacturer before resuming automatic operation.
If the case was held but placed incorrectly
Confirm repeatable case presentation
The conveyor must stop each carton at a repeatable location and orientation. Check the stop, guides, sensors, belt tracking, and upstream spacing. A case that arrives several millimeters or degrees away from the expected pick point can be gripped off-center even when the vacuum is strong.
- Place a representative carton at the normal stop position and mark its intended reference point.
- Run several stop-and-present cycles under the approved safe test mode.
- Measure whether the reference point and orientation repeat from cycle to cycle.
- Correct mechanical stops, guides, sensors, or timing before compensating in robot coordinates.
Check the configured grip position
Compare the programmed pickup point with the actual center and alignment of the gripper on the case. An off-center pickup changes the case’s effective pose while the robot is carrying it and can make the placement appear wrong even when the destination coordinates are correct. Confirm that the intended grip point remains valid for every case size and orientation in the production recipe.
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Verify actual box dimensions
Measure the cases in production and compare their height, width, and length with the values in the robot program or palletizing recipe. Do not assume nominal carton dimensions are exact: filled cartons can swell, flaps can protrude, and rounded or crushed faces can alter the usable contact and footprint.
Use the installed controller’s measurement or recipe screens to check which dimensions are active. If multiple carton formats exist, confirm that the correct format was selected and that a stale recipe was not left active after a changeover.
Validate TCP and pallet coordinates
The tool center point (TCP) describes the gripper’s working reference relative to the robot flange. A wrong TCP can shift or rotate every placement. Check the active TCP, its orientation, and the tool selected by the program against the physical end effector.
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Check pallet height and stack geometry
Confirm the pallet’s actual height, the height of the cases, the number of layers, and any slip sheets or separators included in the recipe. A mismatch can cause the robot to place too high, too low, or at an accumulating offset.
One manual’s suggested height-estimation method is to measure the height of a full pallet of boxes and divide by the number of layers. That is model-specific guidance, not a universal setting. Use it only if the installed system’s documentation recommends the same method, and account for pallet thickness, sheets, compression, and the actual case count.
Compare the virtual pallet with the physical stack
Many controllers provide a pallet viewer or stack-state display. Compare its recorded layer, position, orientation, and occupied locations with the physical pallet. A missed pick, manually removed case, interrupted cycle, or reset at the wrong point can leave the virtual state out of sync.
Correct the state using the documented recovery or pallet-reset function. Before doing so, record the physical stack and establish which cases are present. Resetting the virtual pallet without reconciling the real stack can create another collision or misplaced layer.
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Why small errors become large placement problems
A small error in case dimensions, layer height, or the pallet frame can repeat on every layer. The result may look acceptable on the first layer but become increasingly offset or unstable as the stack grows. This is why blindly adding an offset often treats the symptom rather than the cause.
- If every case in a layer has the same offset, inspect TCP, pallet coordinates, and the programmed pattern.
- If the offset changes with each carton, inspect infeed repeatability and grip centering.
- If the error increases with layer number, inspect layer height, pallet height, and the controller’s stack state.
- If only one carton format fails, compare that recipe’s dimensions, grip point, and pattern with a known-good format.
Choose tooling for the actual case and process
No single end effector suits every carton. Manufacturers describe vacuum, clamp, fork, combination, and custom approaches. Evaluate the installed or proposed tooling against the complete application rather than selecting by robot payload alone.
| Evaluation factor | Questions to answer |
|---|---|
| Support method | Is vacuum, mechanical clamping, forks, a combination, or a custom tool appropriate for the case? |
| Case surface and geometry | Is the surface flat, porous, dusty, corrugated, irregular, or rounded? Are flaps, seams, or labels in the contact area? |
| Weight and payload | Does the robot-plus-tool payload remain within the installed robot’s limits throughout acceleration and deceleration? |
| Pick stability | Will the case remain secure during the planned travel path, orientation changes, and emergency-stop conditions? |
| Compatibility | Do mounting, sensors, air connections, cabling, and controller signals match the installed robot and end effector? |
Tooling changes should be engineered and validated for the specific case, surface, payload, and cell. The available guidance does not support recommending a particular gripper without those details.
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A practical troubleshooting sequence
- Secure the cell. Isolate motion and energy, stabilize any load, and follow site procedures.
- Classify the symptom. Decide whether the case was dropped during handling or held and misplaced at the destination.
- Capture evidence. Record alarms, grip signals, sensor readings, active recipe, carton format, layer number, and the physical stack state.
- For a handling drop, inspect grip integrity. Check cups, contact area, vacuum confirmation, waiting time, leaks, air supply, and power events.
- For a placement error, inspect geometry. Check infeed repeatability, grip centering, actual dimensions, TCP, pallet frame, pallet height, and the pallet viewer.
- Correct one root cause at a time. Make changes through documented settings or mechanical adjustments, then repeat a controlled test.
- Escalate unresolved faults. Contact the robot, controller, or gripper service provider when signals, calibration, safety circuits, or pneumatic behavior remain unexplained.
When to stop troubleshooting and call for service
Stop and obtain machine-specific assistance if the load can no longer be secured, a safety circuit or emergency stop behaves unexpectedly, the robot’s position has changed after a collision, the TCP or frame cannot be validated, or the controller shows inconsistent I/O. Also escalate when the installed manual does not describe the required reset, calibration, pressure, or sensor limits. Universal pneumatic settings and a universal repair sequence cannot be established from general palletizing guidance.
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