Aircraft Freight Container Handling Robot Arm
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing handling systems for containers in aircraft freight compartments require significant modifications to the vehicle structure, are costly, and complex to integrate, limiting their ease of use and flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A handling system comprising a stowage device with a frame, a robot arm with four degrees of freedom, a guide device, and a control unit, designed to minimize structural modifications by allowing flexible container handling and processing, with modular components for adaptability and redundancy, enabling efficient container movement and processing without extensive vehicle alterations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a handling system is integrated into the vehicle with minimal modifications, then ease of manufacture and installation is improved, but the structural complexity of the handling system itself must increase to compensate
Solution Approach 1:
The handling system is divided into modular components: a robot arm unit with handling tool, a guide device with guide axis, and a control unit. These segmented modules can be independently manufactured and then integrated into the vehicle's freight compartment with minimal structural modifications, as each module is self-contained and can be mounted on existing vehicle surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot arm with four degrees of freedom is designed to perform multiple functions: retrieving containers from storage compartments, transporting them along the guide axis, and delivering them to the transfer position. The guide device serves both as a structural support for the robot arm and as a transportation pathway, reducing the need for separate dedicated structures.
2Device complexity
If the robot arm has fewer degrees of freedom, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to perform complex movement profiles and access all storage compartments is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The robot arm is equipped with four degrees of freedom, providing dynamic adaptability to perform complex movement profiles. This allows the arm to adjust its trajectory and positioning dynamically to access containers in various storage compartments and deliver them to the transfer position, even when the vehicle is moving or the compartment geometry is constrained.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide device acts as an intermediary between the robot arm and the storage compartments. It provides a structured pathway (guide axis) that constrains and guides the robot arm's movements, allowing complex retrieval operations to be performed through a combination of the arm's four degrees of freedom and the guide device's directional constraints, rather than requiring the arm to independently navigate all spatial complexities.
3Productivity
If the handling system is designed for high automation, then productivity is improved, but the cost and complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The handling system is designed to operate autonomously without requiring external intervention. The control unit automatically coordinates the robot arm and guide device to retrieve containers from storage compartments and deliver them to the transfer position, enabling continuous operation and high productivity while minimizing the need for additional complex control infrastructure or manual oversight.
4Manufacturing precision
If the handling system uses rigid robot arms, then manufacturing precision is improved, but the system becomes heavier and less adaptable to complex movement profiles
Solution Approach 1:
The robot arm is designed with four degrees of freedom that allow it to achieve the necessary positioning precision through coordinated movement of multiple joints, rather than requiring a single rigid high-precision arm. This distributed precision approach reduces the weight of individual components while maintaining overall system accuracy through the control unit's coordination of the arm's movements along the guide axis.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for handling containers in a freight compartment of a vehicle has a stowage device with a frame in which there are formed devices for receiving containers, at least one robot arm, each with a base a handling tool, a guide device mountable on the frame, and a control unit. The robot arm uses the handling tool to receive and move containers to and from the devices. The guide device moves the robot arm along at least one guide axis. On demand, the control unit actuates the robot arm(s) and the guide device such that a container is received from the respective device by the handling tool and is made available at a predetermined transfer position outside the frame, or such that a container is received by the handling tool at the transfer position and inserted into a device.