Selective Container-Grabbing Robot for Warehouse Sorting Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional manual sorting methods in logistics and warehouse industries are labor-intensive, inefficient, and prone to errors, while existing automatic sorting systems require customized racks, leading to high implementation costs and low carrying efficiency due to the need to transport entire racks.
Innovation Solution
A robot-based carrying system with a travelling apparatus, containing apparatus, and item grabbing apparatus that automatically transports and sorts items by selectively grabbing target items from storage containers, reducing the need to carry entire racks and improving efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire rack is carried for each sorting task, then the precision and stability of the rack are maintained, but the carrying efficiency decreases and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rack is divided into multiple storage containers, each capable of being independently grabbed and transported by the robot. This segmentation allows the robot to carry only the necessary containers for each sorting task rather than the entire rack, improving carrying efficiency while maintaining the precision and stability of the rack structure through selective transport of its components
Solution Approach 2:
The robot extracts and transports only the specific storage containers needed for each sorting task from the rack, leaving unnecessary containers behind. This extraction principle enables the system to maintain rack precision and stability while significantly improving carrying efficiency by avoiding transport of unnecessary components
2Reliability
If customized racks are designed for each usage scenario, then the precision and stability requirements are met, but the system implementation cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rack is designed as a universal structure composed of standardized storage containers that can be used across multiple usage scenarios. The robot can grab and transport any container from the rack, making the same rack design applicable to different sorting tasks and scenarios, thereby reducing implementation costs while maintaining precision and stability requirements
3Productivity
If the robot selectively grabs storage containers instead of entire rack, then the carrying efficiency improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The storage containers are designed with self-grabbing features that enable the robot to easily identify and grasp them without complex manipulation. The containers likely include standardized gripping surfaces or identification markers that simplify the robot's interaction, allowing selective transport while minimizing the increase in device complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a robot including a travelling apparatus, a body, a containing apparatus and an item grabbing apparatus. The travelling apparatus is disposed at a bottom of the robot and configured to automatically travel to a preset position based on a travelling path received by the robot. The body is disposed above the travelling apparatus. The containing apparatus is connected to the body and includes multiple containing positions that are interlayers stacked in a vertical direction. One of the interlayers may contain at least one target item. The item grabbing apparatus is disposed on the body and configured to, based on a task received by the robot, grab, at the preset position, a first target item from an item storage apparatus and automatically place the first target item at a containing position of the containing apparatus, or grab, at the preset position, a second target item from the containing position of the containing apparatus and automatically place the second target item in the item storage apparatus. A carrying system and a carrying method are further disclosed.