Robotic Cart Multi-Orientation Docking for Tight-Space Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic navigation and docking systems face challenges in efficiently navigating through tight spaces and transferring carts due to rigid docking orientations and limited flexibility in robotic cart configurations.
Innovation Solution
A robotic cart system with retractable docking pins and a sensor-equipped robot that can dock in multiple orientations, allowing the robot to detach and reattach while navigating through tight spaces and transferring carts efficiently by rotating and adjusting docking pins to secure and release from the cart.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the robot uses a fixed docking orientation, then the docking structure is simple, but the robot cannot navigate through tight spaces efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The docking pins are made retractable, allowing them to extend and retract as needed. This dynamic feature enables the robot to dock in multiple orientations by selectively engaging different receptacles, while maintaining a relatively simple docking structure when not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The docking system is designed with multiple receptacles arranged at different orientations on the cart, and the robot's docking pins can engage with any of these receptacles. This universal design allows the same docking structure to accommodate various docking orientations, improving adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity.
2Productivity
If the robot rotates the cart to change direction, then the robot maintains a fixed docking orientation, but the workflow efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The retractable docking pins allow the robot to quickly change docking orientation without rotating the cart. The pins can be retracted and re-engaged with different receptacles in a matter of seconds, significantly reducing the time loss associated with directional changes compared to rotating the entire cart.
Solution Approach 2:
The docking system is segmented into independent docking pins that can operate separately. This allows the robot to change its effective docking orientation by adjusting individual pins rather than rotating the entire cart assembly, improving workflow efficiency by isolating the orientation adjustment function from the cart's main body.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the robot uses retractable docking pins with multiple receptacles, then the robot can dock in multiple orientations, but the docking structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The docking receptacles are arranged asymmetrically on the cart at specific angles (e.g., 90 degrees apart), allowing the robot to dock in multiple orientations without requiring symmetric complexity in the docking structure. This asymmetric arrangement provides multi-orientation capability while keeping the structure relatively simple.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the cart is made larger to accommodate multiple receptacles, then the robot can dock in multiple orientations, but the cart occupies more space
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of spreading multiple receptacles horizontally across a large cart surface, the receptacles are arranged in a compact vertical or three-dimensional configuration. This allows multiple docking orientations to be accommodated within a smaller horizontal footprint, maintaining adaptability while reducing the cart's occupied space.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes: a cart including: four legs; at least one shelf, each shelf attached to each of the legs; the cart having a generally rectangular shape, a width of the cart being longer than a length of the robot, a length of the cart being longer than a length of the robot; four wheels, each wheel attached to a different leg at a bottom of the leg, the wheels configured to roll to facilitate movement of the cart; and a robotic dock, the robotic dock comprising four docking receptacles at ninety degree angles from adjacent docking receptacles; and a robot comprising: a sensor; and a docking module, the docking module comprising retractable docking pins, each retractable docking pin configured, when extended upward, to mate with a corresponding docking receptacle, thereby securing the robot to a bottom shelf of the cart.