Articulable Flap Robot for Granular Slope Adjustment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in safely and efficiently managing bulk stored granular materials, such as grain, due to hazards like falls, entrapments, and spoilage, which require human intervention in hot, dusty, and dangerous environments.
Innovation Solution
A robotic device with an auger-based drive system and an articulable flap is designed to operate within bulk stores, allowing it to move, agitate, and manage granular materials without human entry. The device can traverse slopes, incite sediment gravity flow, and adjust bulk store slopes to prevent avalanches and ensure safe storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human intervention is used to manage bulk stored granular materials, then tasks can be performed with simple equipment, but safety risks increase due to falls, entrapments, and exposure to hazardous environments
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic device is equipped with an auger-based drive system that enables it to propel itself and navigate autonomously through bulk stored granular materials. The device performs tasks such as slope adjustment, surface leveling, and material dispersion without requiring human entry into hazardous environments, thereby achieving self-service operation that eliminates safety risks while maintaining functional simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic device acts as an intermediary between the operator and the hazardous bulk stored granular materials. It performs dangerous tasks such as navigating steep slopes, preventing avalanches, and managing material flow in confined spaces, thereby mediating the interaction between humans and hazardous environments without direct human exposure
2Productivity
If traditional equipment is used for slope adjustment and surface leveling, then the device structure remains simple, but productivity and efficiency are reduced due to manual operation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic device integrates multiple functions including propulsion through auger-based drive, slope adjustment, surface leveling, and material dispersion into a single autonomous platform. This multi-functionality enables the device to perform various bulk store management tasks efficiently without requiring multiple separate equipment systems, thereby improving productivity while controlling overall device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operations with an automated robotic system equipped with sensors and control systems. The device autonomously navigates, adjusts slopes, and levels surfaces using integrated propulsion and manipulation mechanisms, substituting human-operated mechanical systems with automated ones to enhance efficiency
3Reliability
If humans operate in bulk stores to prevent spoilage and manage materials, then response time is immediate, but exposure to hot, dusty, and dangerous conditions increases health risks
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic device autonomously monitors and manages bulk stored granular materials without human intervention. It navigates independently, detects slope conditions, prevents avalanches, and manages material flow, thereby achieving self-service operation that eliminates health risks from hot, dusty, and dangerous environments while maintaining immediate response capability
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic device incorporates sensors and detection systems that continuously monitor bulk store conditions including slope angles, material stability, and environmental parameters. This feedback mechanism enables autonomous decision-making and immediate response to potential hazards such as avalanches or spoilage conditions without requiring human presence
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The robotic device significantly reduces safety risks for humans by allowing remote operation or autonomous management of bulk stored granular materials, improving the efficiency of tasks like slope adjustment, surface leveling, and material dispersion, while minimizing the risk of accidents and spoilage.
Implementation Method 1
A robotic device with an auger-based drive system is designed to operate within bulk stores
Implementation Method 2
The device can traverse slopes, incite sediment gravity flow, and adjust bulk store slopes to prevent avalanches
Data Source
AI summary
A robot comprises a body, a drive system coupled with the body, and a memory. A processor coupled with the memory is configured to control movement of the robot, via the drive system, to traverse about a surface of a piled granular material in a first direction and in relative to the body and in a second direction relative to the body. The second direction is substantially opposite the first direction. An articulable flap is rotatably coupled with the body by a hinge which comprises lower stop. The articulable flap is configured to rotatably articulate away from the lower stop to a non-pushing orientation in response to a first interaction with piled granular material traversed during the first direction of travel, and rotatably articulate to a pushing orientation engaged with the lower stop in response to a second interaction with the piled granular material during the second direction of travel.