Warehouse Cart Engagement Vehicle for Dense Multilevel Picking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current materials handling vehicles lack efficient navigation and engagement mechanisms for multilevel warehouse racking systems, leading to reduced adaptability and efficiency in picking and placing items within warehouse environments.
Innovation Solution
The materials handling vehicle is equipped with a navigation subsystem, a cart engagement subsystem, and a picking attachment featuring an X-Y-Z-Ψ positioner, allowing for precise navigation and engagement of mobile storage carts and totes within the warehouse racking system, utilizing a combination of vision and time-of-flight systems for accurate positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional materials handling vehicles are used without advanced navigation subsystems, then the device complexity is low, but the productivity and picking density are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical navigation and item handling with an automated system combining vision sensors, time-of-flight sensors, and robotic picking attachments. The vision system captures images of totes and items, the time-of-flight system measures distances, and the robotic attachment automatically picks and places items, substituting human-operated mechanical processes with sensor-based automation to increase picking density
Solution Approach 2:
The materials handling vehicle performs autonomous navigation and self-positioning using its own vision and time-of-flight sensors without requiring external guidance systems. The vehicle independently identifies target totes, calculates positions, navigates to locations, and executes picking operations, enabling the system to serve itself and improve productivity without additional external infrastructure
2Measurement precision
If vision and time-of-flight systems are added for accurate positioning, then the measurement precision is improved, but the use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines vision sensors and time-of-flight sensors into an integrated positioning system. The vision system provides visual identification and location data, while the time-of-flight system simultaneously measures distances to multiple points. By merging these two sensing modalities, the system achieves high positioning accuracy through data fusion, allowing the vehicle to efficiently locate and navigate to target totes with reduced energy consumption compared to using either system alone
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
This solution enhances the vehicle's ability to autonomously navigate and engage with storage carts and totes, improving the efficiency and adaptability of materials handling operations within the warehouse, reducing manual intervention and increasing picking density.
Implementation Method 1
utilizing a combination of vision and time-of-flight systems for accurate positioning
Data Source
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AI summary
A variety of materials handling vehicle-based and warehouse-based solutions, such as a goods storage and retrieval system, comprising a cart, a cart home position, and a vehicle comprising a fork carriage assembly (FCA), a cart engagement subsystem (CES), and vehicular controller(s) to navigate the vehicle to a localized engagement position where the cart home position is within a cart engagement field of view, and use the CES to engage the cart in the cart home position with the FCA. The vehicle may comprise a hand-held drive unit comprising an operational command generator to send operational commands to the vehicular controller(s). The vehicle may comprise a picking attachment comprising an X-Y-Z-Ψ positioner to move along a Z axis independent of movement of the FCA along a vertical axis. The FCA may comprise an anti-rock cart engagement mechanism configured to engage the cart.