Grain Bin Robot Traversal for Landing Zone Debris Dispersal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Bulk stored granular materials pose safety hazards such as falls, entrapments, explosions, and health risks due to dusty and hot environments, necessitating human intervention that is dangerous and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A robotic device with an auger-based drive system operates on the surface of piled granular material, performing tasks like inspection, leveling, agitating, and mapping to manage the bulk store safely and autonomously or remotely, reducing the need for human entry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human workers manually manage bulk stored granular materials, then operational tasks can be performed, but safety hazards such as falls, entrapments, explosions, and health risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces human workers with an autonomous robotic device equipped with sensors, processors, and effectors to perform bulk store management tasks. The robotic device includes a platform with sensors for detecting granular material properties, a processor for analyzing data, and effectors for interacting with the material, thereby eliminating human exposure to hazardous environments while maintaining operational capability
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic device operates autonomously using onboard sensors, processors, and power sources to perform inspection, measurement, and management tasks without human intervention. The device self-navigates, self-monitors, and self-adjusts its operations based on sensor feedback, enabling it to function independently in hazardous bulk store environments
2Productivity
If human workers enter bulk stores to perform tasks, then operational efficiency can be maintained, but health risks from dusty and hot environments increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes human workers with an autonomous robotic device that performs bulk store management tasks without exposure to health hazards. The robotic device incorporates sensors for environmental monitoring, navigation systems for movement, and effectors for material interaction, enabling it to operate efficiently in dusty and hot conditions that would harm human workers
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic device serves as an intermediary between the operator and the hazardous bulk store environment. It collects data through sensors, processes information, and performs tasks using effectors, acting as a mediator that protects human operators from direct exposure to harmful conditions while maintaining operational control
3Ease of operation
If traditional manual methods are used for bulk store management, then simple equipment is required, but task performance becomes dangerous and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic device is divided into functional segments: a platform for support and movement, sensors for detection and measurement, a processor for data analysis, effectors for task execution, and a power source for energy supply. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while working together to perform bulk store management tasks safely and efficiently
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic device is designed as a multi-functional system capable of performing various bulk store management tasks including inspection, measurement, monitoring, and material interaction. The platform supports multiple sensor types, the processor handles diverse data processing requirements, and the effectors can perform different operations, making the device universally applicable to various bulk store scenarios
Data Source
AI summary
A robot comprises an auger-based drive system, a memory, and a processor coupled with the memory and configured to control movement of the robot, via the auger-based drive system, relative to grain in a grain bin. The processor is further configured to direct traversal, by the robot, of a landing zone portion of a surface of a pile of the grain during load-in of the grain to disperse broken grain and foreign material away from the landing zone portion. The landing zone portion is located in a center of the grain bin where the grain lands as it is augured into the grain bin during load-in. The dispersal is affected in part by rotation of augers of the auger-based drive system.