Enterprise

JLS Automation to Unveil VISION AI Pile-Picking System at PACK EXPO International 2026

The York, Pennsylvania robotics builder will run its AI-guided pile-picking system live at McCormick Place in Chicago this October, letting packaging engineers watch the technology work on real product variability.

Mainstay Communications Team · October 5, 2026 · 2 min read

JLS Automation to Unveil VISION AI Pile-Picking System at PACK EXPO International 2026

In brief

JLS Automation announced its JLS VISION AI system on August 6, 2026, targeting one of the persistent friction points in robotic food packaging: product that arrives stacked, overlapping, or touching rather than neatly singulated. The system combines 2D and 3D machine vision at up to 15 frames per second to identify and pick the top item from a pile, reacquire targets as product shifts, and recirculate any bypassed units through an automated refeed loop. It'll run live at PACK EXPO International 2026, booth S-2776, October 18-21, at McCormick Place in Chicago.

What the System Does

JLS Automation built VISION AI for integration into its own robotic packaging lines. The core capability is pile picking: the system reads an irregular, overlapping product flow in real time and instructs the robot to pick the top item without requiring upstream singulation equipment or manual sorting.

2D and 3D vision work together. The 2D channel handles location and orientation. The 3D channel provides height data that tells the robot which item sits highest in the pile and should be picked first.

Both channels run at up to 15 frames per second. As picks remove product and the remaining items shift, VISION AI continuously reacquires targets and keeps the robot working through the pile without stopping.

The Refeed Loop

Bypassed product stays inside the system. A recirculating refeed loop sends those units back into the picking zone, so the system self-corrects and keeps the line running without a trip to waste or a manual sort.

JLS lists the compatible product categories as raw proteins, baked goods, frozen foods, and flow-wrapped packages, including transparent film formats. The live demonstration at PACK EXPO will use condiment packets: an irregular, overlapping flow going into the pick zone, with the refeed loop running visibly alongside.

The Booth Lineup

PACK EXPO International runs October 18-21 at McCormick Place in Chicago. JLS will operate 4 robotic systems and 7 narrated demonstrations at booth S-2776 in the South Building.

VISION AI shares the floor with 3 other production systems. The Peregrine® IS carton line forms, loads, and closes cartons at 120-plus cartons per minute and runs integrated with the Hawk™ case packer. The Osprey® BP handles controlled loading of soft brick packs. The Kestrel™ collation system processes meat snack sticks at up to 600 products per minute.

Michael Newcome, JLS VP of Sales, framed the live-running format directly: "Seeing is believing, especially in food processing. We bring actual equipment and tooling to the floor so processors can watch real applications firsthand."

The Industry Problem

Pile picking has been a long-standing capability gap in robotic food packaging. Most deployed pick-and-place robots require product to arrive in defined, separated presentations. When product doesn't cooperate, the typical solution is singulation equipment upstream, a vibratory feeder, or a worker.

JLS's approach positions VISION AI to handle that variability at the pick point itself. The company designed it as a native integration into its own line architecture rather than a third-party add-on, which it says reduces integration complexity and consolidates support through a single vendor.

Sources

Companies mentioned

Mainstay Digital · Spatial and 3D visualization for industrial companies

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