Elevated Rack-Mounted Robot for Scalable Warehouse Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing warehouse storage racks face high costs, limited scalability, flexibility, and storage capacity issues due to fully manual handling and existing automated solutions.
Innovation Solution
A robot is mounted at an elevated position within a storage rack section, equipped with a manipulator and guiding means to pick up objects and move them to a delivery area, allowing for partial automation of storage racks, reducing costs and increasing flexibility and scalability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If fully automated warehouse storage racks are implemented, then productivity and automation extent are improved, but costs and device complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The warehouse storage rack is divided into multiple sections, with only selected sections (e.g., lowermost sections or sections with heavy objects) being automated. This segmentation allows automation to be applied where most needed while leaving other sections manual, thereby improving automation extent in critical areas without proportionally increasing overall device complexity and costs
2Productivity
If fully automated warehouse storage racks are implemented, then productivity and automation extent are improved, but installation time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By implementing automation in only selected storage rack sections rather than the entire warehouse, the installation time is significantly reduced compared to full automation. The manual sections require no installation of robotic systems, allowing for faster deployment while still achieving productivity improvements in the automated sections
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of implementing complete automation across all storage rack sections, the solution applies partial automation only to sections where it provides the most benefit (e.g., lowermost sections or sections with heavy objects). This partial action approach achieves sufficient productivity improvement without the excessive installation time and costs of full automation
3Ease of operation
If robots are mounted at floor level, then ease of operation is improved, but storage capacity is reduced due to occupied space
Solution Approach 1:
The robot is relocated from floor level to an elevated position within the storage rack structure (e.g., mounted on vertical beams or horizontal beams). This dimensional change allows the robot to operate within the vertical space of the rack without occupying floor space, thereby maintaining storage capacity while still enabling effective object handling and manipulation
4Productivity
If more storage rack sections are automated, then productivity and automation extent are improved, but costs and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The storage rack is segmented into multiple sections with selective automation applied to specific sections based on operational needs (e.g., lowermost sections or sections handling heavy objects). This allows productivity to be improved in critical sections without proportionally increasing device complexity across the entire warehouse
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the storage rack are treated differently regarding automation - some sections are automated while others remain manual. This local quality approach allows productivity improvements to be concentrated in sections where automation provides the most benefit, while avoiding unnecessary device complexity in sections where manual operation is sufficient
Data Source
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AI summary
This disclosure presents a robot (1) for a warehouse storage rack (2) comprising a plurality of storage rack sections (2a-2i). The robot (1) is adapted to be mounted at an elevated position (7) within a storage rack section (2b) and comprises a manipulator (3) for picking up objects (4) within the storage rack section (2b) and manipulator guiding means (5) for movably supporting the manipulator (3). The manipulator guiding means (5) being configured such that the manipulator (3) can be brought to a lower position (8) than the elevated position (7). The disclosure also presents a method for automating a warehouse storage rack by mounting a robot (1) to at least one storage rack section thereof.