Method and system for receiving and manipulating articles

A system (1) for receiving and manipulating articles (2, 2′), comprising

• an industrial robot (18, 19) with at least one gripping tool (23) or several industrial robots (18, 19) each with at least one gripping tool (23),
• an inlet (3) by which articles (2, 2′) moved along at least one row can be moved into a work area (32, 34) of the one industrial robot (18, 19) or work areas (32, 34) of the several industrial robots (18, 19), and
• at least one sensor system (25) and a control device (S) which, with the aid of the at least one sensor system (25), can detect a respective actual position of a respective article (2, 2′) moving in the inlet (3), wherein:
• the control device (S) is configured to define a receiving position for at least one gripping tool (23) of at least one industrial robot (18, 19), wherein the detected actual positions are taken into account, and wherein the control device (S) is configured to control the at least one industrial robot (18, 19) in such a way that the at least one industrial robot (18, 19) thereby moves its respective gripping tool (23) into the defined receiving position and receives the at least one article (2, 2′) by its gripping tool (23) located in the defined receiving position and then manipulates it, or wherein;
• the control device (S) is configured to control at least one industrial robot (18, 19) to adjust a relative spacing previously established between several articles (2, 2′) by its respective gripping tool (23) during or before receiving several articles (2, 2′) and manipulates the respective articles (2, 2′).