Robot Hand Soft Grip and Suction Control for Package Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional humanoid robots struggle with low productivity in picking and packing operations due to slow finger and arm movements, and their hands are often confined in tight spaces, necessitating human intervention for tasks like gripping packages with varying shapes, weights, and breakabilities.
Innovation Solution
A robot hand equipped with a grip portion, suction pads, and a deformable amorphous mucilaginous and viscoelastic soft material that assists suction force, combined with a palm sensor unit for accurate object detection and a control system to manage gripping and function recovery processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a robot hand with finger type structure is used for picking packages, then the robot can perform gripping operations, but the movement of fingers and arms is slow, resulting in low productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical finger-based gripping system with a suction-based system. The suction pad uses atmospheric pressure differentials to grasp packages, eliminating the need for complex mechanical finger movements. This substitution of mechanical action with pneumatic action enables faster gripping operations and improves productivity while maintaining ease of operation for handling various package types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a suction pad that utilizes pneumatic principles to grip packages. By creating a pressure differential through the suction pad, the system can quickly attach to and lift packages without slow mechanical finger movements. The pneumatic system enables rapid gripping and releasing cycles, directly addressing the productivity issue while preserving the ability to handle diverse package shapes and weights.
2Device complexity
If a conventional robot hand is used in confined spaces, then the robot structure is simple, but the function of the robot hand cannot be sufficiently exhibited due to space constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible suction pad that can deform and adapt to confined spaces. The thin film structure of the suction pad allows it to conform to various package shapes and fit into tight spaces where rigid robot hands cannot operate. This flexibility maintains simple device structure while dramatically improving adaptability and function exhibition in confined packaging environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The suction pad is designed with dynamic flexibility, allowing it to deform and adapt its shape based on the package it needs to grip. This dynamic characteristic enables the robot hand to function effectively in various confined spaces within packaging lines, maintaining structural simplicity while achieving high versatility in different operational contexts.
3Force
If a suction pad is used for gripping packages, then the gripping force can be distributed, but the adhesive force between suction points is insufficient without additional assistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the suction pad with an amorphous mucilaginous and viscoelastic soft material to create a composite gripping surface. This composite structure provides both the distributed gripping force of the suction pad and the additional adhesive force of the soft material, ensuring reliable gripping of packages with varying surfaces, weights, and fragilities while maintaining force distribution to prevent damage.
4Area of stationary object
If the grip portion is covered with soft material, then the contact area with the object increases, but the material may deteriorate over time requiring maintenance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a maintenance system that monitors the condition of the soft material and automatically determines when replacement is needed. The system includes a replacement determination unit that assesses material deterioration and triggers replacement operations, ensuring the soft material is replaced before it completely fails. This approach maintains the large contact surface area benefit while managing the inevitability of material degradation through systematic recovery and replacement.
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
Enables quick and reliable gripping and holding of packages by replacing point contact with surface contact, ensuring accurate object recognition and maintaining gripping functionality through adaptive material management.
Implementation Method 1
a suction pad that is provided on the grip portion and adhering to the object
Implementation Method 2
an amorphous mucilaginous and viscoelastic soft material that covers a surface of the grip portion with a predetermined thickness in a state where the suction pad protrudes and is deformable in accordance with an operation of the grip portion
Implementation Method 3
the adhesive force of a mucilaginous and viscoelastic soft material between suction points can be used to assist the suction force
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
In the first invention, since a grip portion 20 is covered with a soft material 102, the soft material 102 is brought into close contact with a package 100 at the time of suction by plural suction pads 24, whereby it is possible to reliably hold the package 100 by being used as an auxiliary holding force at the time of suctioning the package 100 in an air suction structure of the suction pad 24, for example. In the second invention, a management server operating in cooperation with a robot control unit includes a function recovery processing unit that executes a function recovery process for recovering a function of the soft material as a part of the maintenance process in a case where the robot is docked in a dock station, whereby the soft material 102 attached to the grip portion 20 can recover the function by executing the replacement process or the cleaning process according to the frequency of the function decrease when the function as the assistance of the suction of the suction pad 24 decreases at the time of gripping the package 100 by the grip portion 20. In the third invention, a robot includes plural grip portions 20 that grip an object, a palm sensor unit 26 that is provided in each of the plural grip portions 20 and detects object information including a shape and a position of the object, and a control unit 142. The control unit 142 causes control for monitoring the palm sensor 26 to be interrupted periodically or irregularly, grasps accuracy of detection information of the palm sensor 26, and determines pass or fail of the accuracy. In a case of fail, the palm sensor 26 of the grip portion 20 that has not been selected is used. In addition to the grip portion 20 that is to grip the package 100, a grip portion 20 that functions as a support sensor faces the package 100, and the grip control of the grip portion 20L is executed on the basis of the detection information of the palm sensor 26 of the grip portion 20S, whereby a series of operations of confirming the position, gripping, and holding of the package by the grip portion can be quickly and reliably performed. In the fourth invention, provided are plural grip portions 20 attached to a robot and griping an object 100, a sensor group 12G having a first function of acquiring external information for controlling an operation of the robot and a second function of acquiring object information from the object 100, and a control unit 142 that moves the robot to a predetermined position on the basis of the external information and the object information, and controls the grip portions to grip the object by the grip portions. When a special object is selected by the second function of the sensor group, the control unit 142 grips the special object on the basis of a predetermined gripping form for the special object, whereby a series of operations of confirming the position and the type of the package, gripping, and holding and movement after gripping of the package by the grip portion can be quickly and reliably performed. In the fifth invention, provided are a grip portion 20 serving as a base for holding the object, an actuator provided in the grip portion and having a vacuum function for suctioning the object and sucking dust attached to the object, a palm sensor unit that is provided in the grip portion and detects object information including a shape and a position of the object, a first control unit that activates the vacuum function of the actuator as necessary on a basis of a detection result of the palm sensor unit and controls an operation of holding the object, and a second control unit that activates the vacuum function of the actuator prior to the operation of holding the object by the first control unit, whereby reduces the adverse effects of dust attached on the object in a series of operations of confirming the position, gripping, and holding of the package by the grip portion, and the operations can be quickly and reliably performed.