Order Fulfillment Buffer Layout for Parallel Scan-and-Pick
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current goods-to-robot order fulfillment systems are inefficient and unsatisfactory in handling large numbers of small orders with unique items, requiring improvements to meet the demands of e-commerce by reducing reliance on human operators and increasing throughput.
Innovation Solution
An automated order fulfillment system with a donor-handling system having at least two donor buffers and a recipient-handling system with a vision system and item manipulator, where the vision system scans items in multiple donor receptacles to create pick lists and guides the item manipulator to pick and place items between overlapping scanning and picking operations, utilizing three-dimensional image capture and a robot arm for efficient item transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single donor buffer is used with sequential scanning and picking operations, then the system structure is simple, but the throughput is limited due to sequential processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the donor buffer into at least two separate donor buffers, allowing the vision system to scan one donor buffer while the item manipulator picks items from another donor buffer simultaneously. This segmentation enables parallel processing of scanning and picking operations, thereby increasing throughput without requiring a completely new system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The vision system performs scanning operations in advance on one donor buffer while the item manipulator is picking items from another donor buffer. This preliminary action ensures that item location data is ready before picking is needed, enabling smooth parallel operation and reducing idle time, thus improving overall productivity.
2Productivity
If human operators are used for item picking, then the system is easier to operate and maintain, but the reliance on human operators reduces efficiency and increases costs
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the vision system to automatically scan items, identify their locations, and generate pick lists without human intervention. The item manipulator then autonomously picks items based on this data. This self-service capability eliminates the need for human operators to manually locate and pick items, significantly improving order fulfillment efficiency while reducing reliance on human labor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of human operators physically picking items with an automated item manipulator guided by vision system data. This substitution of human mechanical action with an automated robotic system increases productivity and reduces operational costs while maintaining or improving picking accuracy.
3Productivity
If the vision system scans items while the manipulator picks items from the same donor receptacle, then the system is simpler to control, but overlapping operations from different donor buffers create coordination complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system assigns different donor buffers to different operations: one donor buffer is dedicated to scanning by the vision system, while another donor buffer is dedicated to picking by the item manipulator. This segmentation of functions across separate buffers simplifies the coordination logic, as each buffer can be processed independently without real-time interference, enabling parallel operations while maintaining control simplicity.
Data Source
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AI summary
An automated order fulfillment system and automated method for fulfilling orders includes a donor-handling system having at least two donor buffers and a recipient-handling system having at least one recipient buffer. An item-handling system includes a vision system and an item manipulator. The vision system has a field of view encompassing the at least two donor receptacle buffers. A control causes the vision system to scan items in a donor receptacle at one of the donor buffers to obtain a pick list of location data of items in the scanned donor receptacle. The control causes the manipulator to pick an item from a donor receptacle at the other of the donor buffers under guidance of the vision system and place the picked item to a recipient receptacle at the at least one recipient buffer using the location data of items in that donor receptacle.