Robotic Picking With Rail Pneumatics for Dense Warehouse Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage systems for warehouses face inefficiencies in storage density and order fulfillment times due to the need for extensive aisle space and the limitations of current robotic picking arms in handling diverse product sizes, shapes, and weights, leading to congestion and reduced throughput.
Innovation Solution
A high-density storage structure with a mobile, manipulator robot equipped with a pneumatic gripping tool and a fluid supply system, allowing the robot to traverse parallel rails, identify products using image data, and grasp items with adjustable pneumatic tools, enabling efficient retrieval and sorting of inventory items across multiple product types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If containers are stacked in adjacent rows without aisles to increase storage density, then storage space utilization improves, but robot navigation time and energy consumption increase due to longer travel distances
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from horizontal aisle-based navigation to vertical container extraction. Robots remain on a fixed grid platform and use vertical extraction mechanisms to retrieve containers from stacked positions, eliminating the need for horizontal travel between aisles while maintaining access to densely stacked containers.
Solution Approach 2:
A fluid supply system with valves integrated into the rail structure serves as an intermediary, providing pneumatic power to gripping tools on the robot. This allows the robot to interact with containers vertically without needing to physically move to different locations, reducing navigation time while maintaining storage density.
2Productivity
If multiple vehicles are added to the grid to increase throughput, then order fulfillment speed improves, but system congestion increases and throughput eventually declines
Solution Approach 1:
The system moves from two-dimensional horizontal vehicle movement on a grid to three-dimensional vertical container extraction. Multiple robots can operate simultaneously on the same grid platform without interfering with each other's paths, as they extract containers from different vertical positions or depths, eliminating gridlock while maintaining high throughput.
Solution Approach 2:
The container storage is segmented into multiple vertical stacks with different access depths. Robots can independently access different segments of the storage structure simultaneously, allowing parallel operations without congestion. The fluid supply system is also segmented with individual valves for each container position, enabling independent control.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a robot carries large onboard compressors to power pneumatic gripping tools, then gripping capability improves, but robot weight and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The rail structure with integrated fluid supply lines acts as an intermediary system, delivering pneumatic power from a centralized source to the robot's gripping tools. This eliminates the need for onboard compressors, significantly reducing robot weight and complexity while maintaining full pneumatic gripping capability through the external fluid supply network.
Solution Approach 2:
The fluid supply system serves multiple functions: it provides pneumatic power for gripping tools, enables precise control of individual container extraction through valves, and integrates with the rail structure for stable robot operation. This multi-functional system replaces what would otherwise require separate heavy components on the robot.
4Ease of operation
If traditional aisle-based storage is used to allow operator access, then product retrieval flexibility improves, but storage density decreases due to aisle space requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual operator access through aisles with automated robotic extraction using pneumatic gripping tools. The fluid supply system enables precise, controlled extraction of containers from dense vertical stacks, providing flexibility in product retrieval without requiring physical aisle space. Robots can access any container position programmatically, maintaining operational flexibility while achieving high storage density.
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
The solution enhances storage density and order fulfillment efficiency by allowing the robot to quickly and accurately grasp a wide variety of products, reducing downtime, and increasing system throughput without the need for large onboard compressors, thus optimizing warehouse space and operations.
Implementation Method 1
a picking arm connected to the body and coupled to a pneumatic gripping tool configured to grasp inventory items
Implementation Method 2
a fluid supply line having a plurality of valves disposed within the supply line. Each of the valves have a closed condition in which the supply line is in fluid isolation from an outside environment and an open condition in which the supply line is in fluid communication with the outside environment
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile manipulator robot for retrieving inventory items from a storage system. The robot includes a body, a wheel assembly, a sensor to locate a position of the robot within the storage system, an interface configured to send processor readable data to a remote processor and to an operator interface, and receive processor executable instructions from the remote processor and from the operator interface, an imaging device to capture images of the inventory items, a picking manipulator, first and second pneumatic gripping elements for grasping the inventory items, and a coupler configured to mate with a valve to access a pneumatic supply for operating at least one of the first or second pneumatic gripping elements. The robot is configured to transition the valve from a closed condition to an open condition and selectively place one of the first or the second pneumatic gripping elements in communication with the pneumatic supply.