Angled Channel Puck Support for Robotic Payment Machine Grip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing retail payment machines require reliable and consistent robotic grip pucks to ensure efficient customer transactions, but existing solutions fail to provide a stable and efficient mechanism for robotic end effectors to retrieve and return the pucks accurately.
Innovation Solution
A robotic user interface puck support apparatus with a base and two supports extending from it, featuring angled channels and funnel openings that guide the puck, allowing for precise positioning and easy retrieval and return by robotic end effectors, while providing structural integrity and durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a robotic end effector retrieves and returns the grip puck, then the payment machine can be tested for reliability and consistency, but the robotic system experiences misalignment and oscillation that reduce retrieval accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
A support apparatus with angled supports and funnel openings acts as an intermediary between the robotic end effector and the grip puck. The funnel-shaped opening guides the puck into proper alignment, while the angled supports provide a stable reference structure that compensates for robotic misalignment and oscillation during retrieval and return operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The support apparatus is positioned and configured in advance to accommodate expected misalignment and oscillation ranges. The funnel opening and angled supports are designed with specific dimensions and angles that preemptively compensate for robotic positioning variations, ensuring the puck can be reliably retrieved and returned despite control system imperfections.
2Productivity
If the grip puck is held in a fixed position for robotic retrieval, then the robotic system can efficiently test the payment machine, but the structure must provide sufficient stability to resist misalignment and oscillation
Solution Approach 1:
The support apparatus is divided into multiple angled supports that can be independently positioned and adjusted. This segmentation allows each support element to be optimized for specific functions: some supports provide primary positioning, while others compensate for misalignment, enabling both efficient robotic retrieval and structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The support apparatus uses angled supports that extend in multiple dimensions rather than a single flat surface. This three-dimensional configuration provides stability in multiple directions, resisting misalignment and oscillation from various axes while maintaining the puck in a retrievable position for efficient testing.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to test user interfaces of systems. Some embodiments provide a puck support apparatus comprising: a base; a first support and a second support both supported by the base and extending away from the base in generally a first direction; wherein the first support comprises a first channel formed at an angle relative to the first direction; and wherein the second support comprises a second channel formed at the angle relative to the first direction and mirroring the first channel; and wherein the first support at the first channel is separated from the second support by at least a robotic effector threshold distance.