Conveyance Robot Arm Control for Safe High-Speed Shelf Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveyance robots face challenges in performing high-speed operations while maintaining safety in environments where both robots and humans coexist, as existing solutions struggle to effectively isolate the robot's work area from human intrusion.
Innovation Solution
A conveyance robot system equipped with a robot arm, safety cover, intrusion detection sensors, and distance sensors that allow high-speed operation by disabling intrusion detection when the clearance distance between the robot and shelf meets a safety threshold, ensuring safety by limiting the operation area outside the safety cover.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a cover body is provided to surround the robot arm, then safety is improved, but the robot arm cannot perform quick work when clearance is small
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the safety cover transparent rather than opaque, allowing the detection sensor to dynamically monitor the space between the robot arm and shelf through the cover. This enables the system to adaptively adjust operation speed based on real-time clearance measurements while maintaining continuous safety monitoring, resolving the contradiction between safety coverage and work speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary detection sensor that monitors the clearance space between the robot arm and shelf through the safety cover. This intermediary device enables communication between the safety cover system and the control system, allowing high-speed operation when clearance is sufficient while maintaining safety monitoring, thus resolving the contradiction between safety and productivity.
2Reliability
If intrusion detection sensor is always active, then safety is ensured, but high-speed operation cannot be achieved when clearance is sufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the intrusion detection sensor's operation mode dynamic rather than static. The sensor switches between active intrusion detection mode and passive monitoring mode based on real-time clearance measurements. When clearance exceeds the threshold, the sensor transitions to passive monitoring, enabling high-speed operation while maintaining safety oversight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameter of the intrusion detection sensor based on the clearance distance parameter. When the measured clearance distance exceeds the predetermined threshold, the sensor's detection sensitivity or active monitoring function is adjusted, allowing the system to transition from safety-critical high-speed monitoring to normal-speed active intrusion detection, thus resolving the speed-safety contradiction.
3Productivity
If the robot arm operates at high speed, then productivity is improved, but safety risk increases when persons are nearby
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by measuring the clearance distance between the robot arm and shelf before initiating high-speed operation. The system preliminarily assesses the safety conditions by checking whether the clearance exceeds the predetermined threshold, and only permits high-speed operation when the preliminary safety check passes, thus preventing safety risks before they occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback by continuously monitoring the clearance distance and using this information to control the robot arm's operation speed. The detection sensor provides real-time feedback on the space between the robot arm and shelf, and the control system adjusts the operation speed accordingly - permitting high speed when clearance is sufficient and reducing speed when clearance is small, thus dynamically managing safety risks.
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyance robot system according to the present disclosure includes a conveyance robot, and a robot control unit configured to control an operation of picking up an object performed by the conveyance robot, wherein the robot control unit determines that a movable range area, which is an area outside a safety cover where a robot arm is operated, satisfies a safety ensuring condition that can regard safety of the movable range area as equivalent to the safety inside the safety cover and allow the robot arm to perform a work while projecting toward the shelf.