Variable Friction Manipulator for Dense Warehouse Retrieval
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robotics technology struggles to efficiently pick up densely packed or oddly shaped items from warehouses due to challenges in accurate placement and sufficient grip, often requiring human intervention which increases costs.
Innovation Solution
A variable friction manipulator system with low-profile, low-friction manipulators that can easily insert between items and deploy high-friction grippers to lift items with minimal disturbance to surrounding items, using materials like aluminum and inflatable bladders to provide additional grip without damaging fragile items.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If manipulators are made thin to fit between densely packed items, then they can access tightly packed storage spaces, but they become too weak to pick up items of significant weight
Solution Approach 1:
The manipulator transitions from a thin, low-profile state during insertion to an extended, high-friction state during grasping. The friction surface extends beyond the manipulator body when needed, providing both the thin profile for access and the extended surface area for strong grasping force.
Solution Approach 2:
The coefficient of friction is dynamically changed by extending the friction surface material (such as rubber or foam) beyond the manipulator body. This allows the same manipulator to have low friction during insertion and high friction during grasping, resolving the contradiction between thin profile and strong grasping capability.
2Strength
If conventional robotic arms are used to pick densely packed items, then they have sufficient strength to lift items, but they cannot accurately place the manipulator between tightly packed items
Solution Approach 1:
The manipulator is segmented into a thin manipulator body for precise positioning and an extendable friction surface for grasping. This segmentation allows the thin body to accurately navigate between densely packed items while the extended friction surface provides sufficient grasping strength.
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible friction surface material (rubber or foam) is attached to the manipulator body. This flexible material can extend beyond the thin manipulator body to provide high-friction grasping surfaces, enabling both precise placement and strong grasping of densely packed items.
3Force
If high-friction materials are used on manipulators to grip items, then grasping force is sufficient, but the manipulator cannot easily insert between items with minimal disturbance
Solution Approach 1:
The friction surface dynamically changes from a retracted, low-profile position during insertion to an extended position during grasping. This dynamic reconfiguration allows easy insertion with minimal disturbance followed by strong grasping force when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The manipulator body is designed to be thin and low-friction for preliminary insertion between items, and only after successful insertion does the high-friction surface extend to provide grasping force. This preliminary action sequence resolves the contradiction between easy insertion and strong grasping.
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
Enables efficient retrieval of densely packed items with reduced disturbance to adjacent items, improving warehouse efficiency and reducing labor costs by allowing robotic systems to handle items that were previously difficult to manage.
Implementation Method 1
using materials like aluminum and inflatable bladders to provide additional grip
Data Source
AI summary
A system, apparatus, and method is configured to retrieve items and particularly items that are stored in high-density storage solutions. The system can include one or two-piece manipulators with retractable grippers. The manipulators can be relatively low profile and/or low friction to facilitate their placement between a target item and adjacent items on densely packed shelves or trays. In a retracted position, the grippers can be stowed beneath the surface of the manipulators to further facilitate the placement of the manipulators. In a deployed position, the grippers can extend above the surface of the manipulators to increase the contact area, coefficient of friction, and/or surface pressure of the manipulators on the target item. The grippers can enable the manipulators to be thinner than would otherwise be possible to enable retrieval of items from tightly packed storage solutions—e.g., warehouses with higher gross cubic utilization (GCU).