Conveyance Robot Safety Cover for High-Speed Arm Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conveyance robots face challenges in performing high-speed operations while maintaining safety in environments where humans and robots coexist, as existing solutions struggle to effectively isolate the robot arm's workspace 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 a predetermined clearance distance is maintained, ensuring no human body parts enter the work area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the robot arm operates at high speed, then productivity is improved, but safety is compromised due to potential human intrusion into the workspace
Solution Approach 1:
The workspace is segmented into a high-speed operation zone (inside the safety cover) and a human access zone (outside the safety cover). The safety cover physically divides the space, allowing the robot arm to operate at high speed within the covered area while humans can safely access objects outside. This spatial segmentation resolves the contradiction by enabling high-speed operation in one zone without compromising safety in another zone.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety cover acts as an intermediary barrier between the robot arm and humans. It allows the robot arm to protrude and operate at high speed while preventing direct human intrusion into the high-speed workspace. The cover with its opening provides a controlled interface that mediates the interaction between high-speed automation and human operators, enabling both productivity and safety.
2Reliability
If a safety cover is provided to isolate the robot arm workspace, then safety is improved, but the robot arm cannot perform quick work when humans need to access the workspace
Solution Approach 1:
The safety cover is designed with a dynamic opening that allows the robot arm to protrude when needed. This dynamic configuration enables the system to switch between safety mode (cover closed) and high-speed operation mode (arm protruding through opening). The opening can be positioned and sized appropriately to allow human access while maintaining safety, thus resolving the contradiction between safety isolation and work speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety cover provides localized safety protection rather than complete enclosure. The opening in the cover creates a localized access point that maintains safety for the majority of the workspace while allowing controlled interaction where needed. This local quality approach enables the robot arm to perform quick work in specific areas without compromising overall safety.
3Reliability
If the intrusion detection sensor is always active, then safety is maintained by detecting human intrusion, but the robot arm cannot operate at high speed when no intrusion risk exists
Solution Approach 1:
The intrusion detection sensor operates periodically or conditionally rather than continuously at full sensitivity. The system can switch between detection modes: active detection when humans are near the workspace, and high-speed operation mode when the workspace is clear. This periodic/conditional operation allows the system to maintain safety monitoring capability while enabling high-speed operation during safe periods, resolving the contradiction between continuous safety monitoring and high-speed operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A conveyance robot system according to the present disclosure includes an intrusion detection sensor that detects an intrusion of an object into the arm opening, and a distance sensor that measures a clearance distance indicating a distance between an arm entry/exit surface and a shelf, the arm entry/exit surface being a surface of the conveyance robot in which the arm opening is provided from among surfaces of the conveyance robot 1 constituting the safety cover, and the object being stored in the shelf. The distance sensor is disposed at a fixed height of the shelf in a horizontal direction and at a height of the shelf corresponding to a part to be measured.