Robotic Picking Reach Extension via Movable Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robot picking systems are limited in their ability to serve multiple target containers simultaneously due to the short range of their gripper arms, which restricts their effectiveness in multi-order picking scenarios and increases costs and complexity with longer ranges.
Innovation Solution
A device with two conveyor technology tracks, a storage area, and a picking robot equipped with a displacement unit that moves target containers within the reach of the gripper arm, allowing simultaneous operation across multiple containers without interrupting the picking process, and can be retrofitted for manual operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the gripper arm reach is increased to serve multiple target containers, then the ability to serve multiple target containers simultaneously is improved, but the weight, space requirements, and costs of the robot increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a movable storage area that can be dynamically repositioned along the conveyor track to bring target containers within the robot's fixed reach. This dynamic adjustment allows the robot to serve multiple target containers without requiring an increased gripper arm reach, thereby avoiding the associated increases in weight, space requirements, and costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveyor track serves as an intermediary mechanism between the robot and target containers. By introducing this intermediate element, the system decouples the robot's fixed reach from the positions of target containers, allowing containers to be moved into range without modifying the robot's physical capabilities.
2Productivity
If multiple target containers are set up at the picking workstation to enable multi-order picking, then the supply performance is improved, but the robot can only reach one or a maximum of two target containers due to limited reach
Solution Approach 1:
The storage area is designed to be movable along the conveyor track, allowing it to dynamically reposition multiple target containers into the robot's reach. This enables the system to maintain high supply performance by serving multiple target containers sequentially or simultaneously, overcoming the robot's limited static reach while supporting multi-order picking operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds the dimension of longitudinal movement along the conveyor track to the traditional two-dimensional robot workspace. This allows target containers to be accessed from multiple positions along the track, effectively expanding the robot's service area without increasing its arm reach.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a robot with longer reach is used to serve multiple target containers, then the multi-order picking capability is improved, but mobile order picking robots become hardly realistically feasible
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the robot mobile or increasing its reach, the system makes the storage area movable along the conveyor track. This approach maintains a compact, feasible robot design while achieving multi-order picking capability through the dynamic repositioning of target containers within the robot's fixed reach.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveyor track with movable storage area acts as an intermediary that enables multi-order picking without requiring the robot itself to be mobile or have extended reach. This intermediary solution preserves the simplicity and feasibility of the robot design while achieving the desired functionality.
Data Source
Figure 1~2b
Figure 3~4
Figure 5a~5d
AI summary
The invention relates to a device for picking goods, comprising a first conveyor track (20) for transporting source containers (41, 42) to and from them, a second conveyor track (18, 22) for transporting destination containers (50, 52, 54) to and from them, at least one storage area (26) with several storage positions (28, 30, 32) for placing several destination containers (50, 52, 54), in particular cartons, wherein the storage area (26) has a longitudinal direction running parallel to one of the conveyor tracks (18, 22), at least one transfer device (40) for transferring a destination container (50, 52, 54) from the second conveyor track (22) to the storage area (26), and a picking robot (16) with a gripper arm (48) with a predetermined reach for picking goods from the source container (41, 42) into the destination container (50, 52, 54). 52, 54).It is proposed that the storage area (26) includes at least one storage position (28, 30, 32) which in at least one configuration of the device lies outside the reach of the gripper arm (48) and that the device is equipped with a displacement unit (58) designed to displace a target container (50, 52, 54) located on the at least one storage position (28, 30, 32) outside the reach relative to the picking robot (16), so that the target container (50, 52, 54) is displaced in the longitudinal direction of the storage area (26) into the reach of the gripper arm (48).