Interlocking Modular Locker System for Variable Package Sizes
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing demand for package delivery operations due to e-commerce growth necessitates optimizing delivery processes to minimize time wastage and improve hourly throughputs, particularly in handling packages of varying sizes.
Innovation Solution
A modular robot system with interlocking reconfigurable modules, equipped with omni-directional wheels, sensors, cameras, and a power/data link, allowing for communication and control of modular units to form containers of varying sizes, enabling efficient package handling and self-loading onto delivery vehicles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional fixed-size lockers are used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but they cannot accommodate packages of varying sizes efficiently, leading to wasted space and reduced productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The locker system is divided into multiple interchangeable modules (single compartment, double compartment, half-modules) that can be combined in different configurations. Each module has standardized interlocking features with rails and tracks, allowing flexible assembly to match various package sizes while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through standardized components.
Solution Approach 2:
The locker system transitions from fixed-size to reconfigurable configurations. Modules can be dynamically assembled and disassembled using interlocking rails and tracks, enabling the locker structure to adapt its capacity and dimensions based on delivery requirements, thereby improving space utilization without permanent structural complexity.
2Productivity
If manual loading and unloading processes are used, then the system is simpler to operate, but time wastage increases and hourly throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The locker system incorporates self-loading and self-unloading capabilities through automated mechanisms. The interlocking modules with standardized interfaces enable automatic package placement and retrieval, reducing manual intervention and minimizing time wastage during loading/unloading operations, thereby increasing hourly throughput.
3Adaptability or versatility
If modular reconfigurable lockers are implemented, then adaptability to different package sizes improves, but the interlocking mechanism and module coordination increase system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The interlocking mechanism uses universal rails and tracks that work across all module types. The same standardized interface is used for single compartment modules, double compartment modules, and half-modules, allowing a single design to serve multiple functions and configurations without increasing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains constant geometric parameters for interlocking features (rail spacing, track dimensions, connector sizes) while changing the number and arrangement of modules. This standardization of parameters simplifies the interlocking mechanism design while enabling unlimited reconfigurability through different module combinations.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular robot system which may be configured to accommodate packages of varying sizes is provided. The modular robot may include a base have omni-directional wheels and cameras and sensors, one or more modular containers, and a lid, which may be releasably linked together to form a small, medium or larger units. The base, one or more modular containers, and the lid may be electrically linked to provide information to be used in a number of ways. For example, the electrical link may allow two or more modular robots to communicate with each other, enable external displays of multiple modules to act as one large unit, control the motion of the drawers, e.g., allowing them to open/close, and allow the processor(s) in the lid to communicate with the drive system of the omni-directional wheels. A set of alternating interlocking rails and tracks on corresponding surfaces enable the various layers of the modular robot to interlock with one another. Interlocking of multiple modular containers may be established by sliding one surface over the other. These sections may be used to create modular robots of varying sizes.