Robotic Shuttle Transfer for Faster Inventory Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic systems struggle with efficiently picking and sorting inventory items of varying sizes, dimensions, shapes, weights, and stiffness, often requiring human intervention when items slip from the robot's grip, and are inefficient due to long travel distances between picking and sorting locations.
Innovation Solution
A robotic system with a picking arm and a shuttle device that transfers items from the picking arm to a platform adjacent to the picking area, allowing for efficient sorting and reducing the need for human intervention, and includes a robot that can operate in autonomous or teleoperator modes with a machine learning grasp pose prediction algorithm to improve grasping accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a robot directly transports items from picking location to sorting location, then the sorting process can be automated, but the robot's arm must travel long distances which reduces efficiency and increases time consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the sorting function into two independent components: a robot responsible for item acquisition and a shuttle responsible for item transport. This segmentation allows the robot to place items nearby without traveling to distant sorting locations, while the shuttle handles the long-distance transport to multiple sorting stations.
Solution Approach 2:
The shuttle acts as an intermediary between the robot and the sorting locations. The robot transfers items to the shuttle at a nearby pick-up location, and the shuttle then transports items to the appropriate end locations. This intermediary eliminates the need for the robot to travel long distances.
2Extent of automation
If a robot grasps items for sorting, then the picking process can be automated, but items of varying sizes and properties may slip from the robot's grip requiring human intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates sensors that automatically detect when an item is not properly grasped or has slipped during transport. When such events are detected, the system automatically triggers a recovery mechanism to retrieve the item, eliminating the need for human intervention and maintaining continuous automated operation.
3Extent of automation
If multiple robots are used to perform picking and sorting tasks, then automation capability increases, but system complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The shuttle is designed as a universal transport platform that can carry items to multiple different end locations along its track. This single multi-functional device replaces what would otherwise require multiple specialized robots, each programmed for specific sorting locations, thereby reducing system complexity while maintaining comprehensive automation.
Data Source
AI summary
A robotic system includes a robot having a picking arm to grasp an inventory item and a shuttle. The shuttle includes a platform adapted to receive the inventory item from the picking arm of the robot. The platform is moveable in at least a two-dimensional horizontal plane between a pick-up location located substantially adjacent to the robot and an end location spaced a distance apart from the pick-up location. The system improves efficiency as transportation of the item from the pick-up location to the end location is divided between the robot and the shuttle.