Force-Feedback Gripping for Low-Wear Piece Goods Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automated handling devices face challenges in efficiently managing piece goods due to unknown properties such as weight, center of mass, and surface texture, often requiring excessive force to prevent items from falling off, leading to inefficiency and wear.
Innovation Solution
A gripping device equipped with sensors to determine the force acting on the gripping element, a control unit to optimize the actuator's operation based on this force information, allowing precise alignment and movement of the piece goods to minimize required holding force and reduce wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If excessive gripping force is used to ensure piece goods do not fall off, then reliability of handling is improved, but wear on the gripping device increases and energy consumption rises
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs sensors to continuously monitor the force acting on the gripping element and feeds this information back to the control unit. The control unit dynamically adjusts the gripping force based on real-time feedback, ensuring sufficient hold without excessive force. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining reliability through active monitoring while minimizing wear through adaptive force control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the gripping force parameter dynamically based on detected properties of the piece goods. By determining the actual force required to hold different items and adjusting the gripping force accordingly, the system maintains reliable handling while avoiding the harmful effects of consistently high gripping force that causes wear.
2Reliability
If excessive gripping force is applied to secure piece goods, then reliability of handling is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit receives real-time feedback from sensors about the force required to hold each piece good and adjusts the actuator output accordingly. This ensures that only the necessary amount of energy is consumed to maintain reliable handling, rather than continuously applying excessive force that would waste energy.
Solution Approach 2:
The gripping force is made dynamic rather than static. The system continuously adapts the gripping force level to match the actual requirements of each piece good being handled, ensuring reliability while minimizing energy consumption by avoiding unnecessary force application.
3Device complexity
If properties of piece goods are unknown, then handling process is simplified, but handling efficiency decreases due to over-dimensioning
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of piece good properties (such as center of mass and weight) before the main handling operation. This preliminary action provides the control unit with information needed to optimize gripping force and alignment, improving handling efficiency without significantly increasing overall process complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensing system enables the piece goods themselves to provide information about their properties through the force they exert on the gripping element. The system uses this self-provided information to automatically adjust handling parameters, improving efficiency without requiring complex external measurement equipment or manual input.
4Measurement precision
If multiple sensors are used to determine force information, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The force measurement function is segmented and distributed across multiple sensing elements within the gripping element itself. Each sensing element contributes to the overall force measurement, providing precision through distributed measurement while keeping the overall device structure integrated and relatively simple.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
A gripping device (1) for handling piece goods (2), in particular for use in a sorting process, is provided. The gripping device (1) comprises a gripping element (3) designed to handle a piece goods (2); an actuator (4) designed to move and align the gripping element (3); at least one sensor (5) designed to determine the force acting on the gripping element (3) by the piece goods (2) and to output it as force information; and a control unit (6) designed to control the actuator (4) such that the piece goods (2) are aligned and/or moved in space based on the force information. Furthermore, a handling system (10) for handling piece goods (2) and a method for handling piece goods (2) are provided.