Robot-Served Operation Door for Faster Self-Service Item Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current warehousing technologies rely heavily on manual operations, leading to inefficiencies and high labor costs in unmanned scenarios like supermarkets, where customers need to constantly walk between shelves to retrieve items, resulting in time and energy wastage.
Innovation Solution
A self-service operating system comprising a control server, robots, and operation doors, which automates the transport of storage containers to operation doors, allowing compartment doors to open for efficient article retrieval or storage, reducing manual labor and improving efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If customers walk among commodity shelves to retrieve items, then customers can access all articles, but customers consume a lot of time and energy
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service through automated robots that respond to customer requests. When a customer places an order through the terminal device, the control server automatically assigns a robot to retrieve the requested article from the storage container and deliver it to the operation door, eliminating the need for customers to physically search through shelves.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of manual customer movement with an automated robotic system. The robot receives instructions from the control server, navigates to the storage container, opens the appropriate compartment door, retrieves the article, and delivers it to the operation door, substituting human physical effort with automated mechanical action.
2Productivity
If manual operations are used in warehousing, then system complexity is low, but operational efficiency is low and labor costs are high
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the warehousing operation into distinct functional modules: terminal devices for customer interaction, a control server for task management and robot coordination, autonomous robots for article retrieval and transport, and storage containers with compartment doors for organized storage. Each module operates independently but communicates through the control server, enabling efficient coordination without requiring complex integrated design.
Solution Approach 2:
The control server acts as an intermediary between the terminal devices and the robots. It receives order information from terminals, processes the requests, assigns appropriate robots based on current task status and location, and monitors the execution of retrieval operations. This intermediary layer simplifies the overall system architecture by centralizing coordination logic.
3Productivity
If storage containers are fixedly arranged, then system complexity is low, but access efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces dynamic elements to the traditionally static storage environment. Robots dynamically navigate to storage containers based on real-time order requirements, and compartment doors dynamically open only when a robot needs to access specific articles. This dynamic operation pattern improves access efficiency without requiring physical reconfiguration of the storage layout.
Data Source
AI summary
A self-service operating system and method, and an operation door. The system comprises: a control server, one or more operation doors, at least one robot, and one or more storage containers, wherein the control server is configured to respond to an item operation instruction, determine a target storage container and a target operation door which corresponds to an item to be operated, and send a carrying instruction to the robot; the robot is configured to respond to the carrying instruction to carry the target storage container to the target operation door, and a plurality of box openings on the target storage container respectively correspond to a plurality of box openings on the target operation door on a one-to-one basis; and the control server is further configured to control a box opening door of a target box opening on the target operation door to open.