Robot Arm Ingredient Channel Speed Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cooking robots face challenges in safely and cleanly transferring ingredients into a cooking container, often resulting in ingredient overflow and contamination of the surrounding environment.
Innovation Solution
A robot arm with an integrated ingredient channel system, featuring high-speed and low-speed channels, a guider with spiral flow paths, and a block moving device, which processes and guides ingredients through a series of channels to ensure precise and controlled transfer, minimizing spills and maintaining cleanliness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If ingredients are transferred quickly through a single high-speed channel, then transfer efficiency is improved, but ingredient overflow and contamination occur
Solution Approach 1:
The ingredient channel is divided into multiple segments: a high-speed channel for rapid ingredient transport and a low-speed channel for controlled deceleration. This segmentation allows the system to achieve both high transfer efficiency and safe ingredient discharge by routing ingredients through different channel sections with different speed characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The low-speed channel acts as an intermediary between the high-speed channel and the cooking container. It receives ingredients from the high-speed channel, slows them down through its longer path and lower velocity characteristics, and then deposits them gently into the cooking container, preventing overflow and contamination.
2Reliability
If a long channel is used to slow down ingredients, then safety is improved, but transfer time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The channel system is segmented into a short high-speed channel for rapid transport over most of the distance, and a longer low-speed channel only at the discharge end where slowing is necessary. This allows the system to maintain high overall transfer speed while still providing adequate deceleration distance for safe ingredient deposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The channel system dynamically adjusts ingredient speed by transitioning from high-speed transport in the first section to low-speed controlled discharge in the second section. This dynamic speed variation optimizes both transfer efficiency and safety by matching velocity to the specific requirements of each channel section.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple channels with different speeds are used, then ingredient control is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The high-speed channel and low-speed channel are merged into a single integrated ingredient channel structure within the robot arm. This combining of multiple functional sections into one unified component achieves precise ingredient flow control through different velocity zones while minimizing the increase in device complexity compared to using completely separate systems.
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 solution enables safe and clean transfer of ingredients, reducing the risk of overflow and maintaining a clean cooking environment by controlling the speed and flow of ingredients through the robot arm's channels, thereby shortening cooking time and improving efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
the ingredient is pivotally moved along a spiral flow path
Implementation Method 2
a height of a lower end of the deceleration channel may be lower than a height of the ingredient outlet
Data Source
AI summary
A robot includes a robot arm including an arm to which an end effector is connected, in which the arm and the end effector are formed therein with an ingredient channel through which ingredients pass. The ingredient channel includes a first channel having an ingredient inlet into which the ingredients are introduced and extending from the ingredient inlet toward the end effector; and a second channel having an ingredient outlet provided in the end effector and positioned after the first channel in an ingredient transfer direction to guide the ingredients at a different speed from a speed of the first channel.