Robot-Hand Coordinate Control for Mobile-Cart Article Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional article conveyance robots struggle to efficiently retrieve articles from mobile carts due to uncertainty in the orientation and position of the shelves, making it difficult to perform efficient article retrieval and placement when various types of mobile carts are used.
Innovation Solution
A conveyance processing system equipped with a robot hand, movement mechanism, and control unit that utilizes a cart coordinate system to accurately control the robot hand's attitude and movement, incorporating sensors and an imaging unit to determine the cart's orientation and position, allowing efficient article retrieval and placement regardless of the cart's orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the shelf is fixed, then the article conveyance robot can predict the position and operate efficiently, but the system lacks adaptability to mobile carts
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from static shelf assumption to dynamic mobile cart detection by implementing real-time coordinate system detection and transformation. The robot hand dynamically adapts its control coordinates based on detected cart orientation and position, enabling efficient operation on both fixed shelves and mobile carts through continuous environmental adaptation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the reference frame parameters from a fixed shelf coordinate system to a dynamically detected cart coordinate system. By detecting the cart's position and orientation parameters and transforming the control coordinates accordingly, the system maintains operational efficiency across different cart types and positions.
2Ease of operation
If the cart orientation is unknown, then the robot cannot efficiently retrieve articles, but adding detection mechanisms increases system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces complex mechanical sensing and positioning mechanisms with computational coordinate transformation. Instead of using multiple physical sensors to directly measure cart orientation, the system uses image processing to detect reference marks and mathematically transforms the control coordinate system, reducing hardware complexity while improving operational ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary coordinate transformation layer between the robot control system and the mobile cart. This transformation layer acts as a mediator that converts robot control coordinates into cart-relative coordinates based on detected cart position and orientation, simplifying the control problem without requiring direct mechanical coupling or complex sensing.
3Adaptability or versatility
If various types of mobile carts are used, then the system must handle different orientations and positions, but conventional technology cannot efficiently retrieve articles
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a universal coordinate detection and transformation mechanism that works with various types of mobile carts regardless of their specific orientation or position. By detecting reference marks on the cart and dynamically transforming control coordinates, the system achieves multi-functionality across different cart types while maintaining efficient article retrieval operations.
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 system enables efficient article conveyance from and to mobile carts by accurately determining and adapting to the cart's orientation, ensuring reliable and efficient article handling across various types of mobile carts.
Implementation Method 1
measuring a distance between a first measurement point on a horizontal frame of the mobile cart and the first distance sensor by the first distance sensor
Implementation Method 2
measuring a distance between a first measurement point on a horizontal frame of the mobile cart and the first distance sensor by the first distance sensor
Implementation Method 3
an imaging unit that are installed in the frame... an operation of collecting the cash boxes loaded on the cart is performed at the location
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an article conveyance processing system in which article(s) are efficiently taken out from a mobile cart and/or article(s) are placed on a mobile cart even when various types of mobile carts are used. Using the cart coordinate system obtained such that the horizontal, vertical and depth axes of the cart coordinate system substantially coincide with the horizontal, vertical and depth directions of the mobile cart, respectively, the article conveyance processing system performs the control of moving the robot hand and the attitude control of the robot hand; thus, the article conveyance processing system can efficiently take out an article from a mobile cart and/or place an article on a mobile cart regardless of in what orientation a wide variety of mobile carts are placed.