Warehouse Robot Container Picking for Rack-Free Item Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional manual sorting methods in logistics and warehouse industries are labor-intensive, inefficient, and prone to errors, while existing automatic sorting systems require customized racks, leading to high implementation costs and low carrying efficiency due to the need to carry entire racks, resulting in unnecessary energy consumption and waste.
Innovation Solution
A robot-based carrying system with a travelling apparatus, containing apparatus, and item grabbing apparatus that automatically travels to preset positions, selectively grabs and places target items within the containing apparatus, improving efficiency and accuracy by reducing the need to carry entire racks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the entire rack is carried for each sorting task, then the item sorting accuracy is improved, but the carrying efficiency deteriorates and energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rack is divided into multiple storage containers, each capable of being independently grabbed and transported by the robot. This segmentation allows the robot to carry only the specific container needed for the sorting task rather than the entire rack, thereby improving carrying efficiency while maintaining sorting accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot extracts and carries only the specific storage container containing the needed item from the rack, leaving other containers behind. This extraction principle eliminates the waste of carrying unnecessary commodities and reduces energy consumption while ensuring accurate item sorting.
2Adaptability or versatility
If customized racks are used for each usage scenario, then the adaptability is improved, but the implementation cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The storage containers are designed with standardized structures that can be universally grabbed by the robot's grabbing apparatus regardless of the specific usage scenario. This universality allows the same rack design to serve multiple purposes and scenarios without requiring custom-built racks for each application, thereby reducing implementation costs while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows dynamic reconfiguration of storage containers on the rack without requiring physical customization of the rack structure. The robot can adapt to different sorting scenarios by selecting and transporting different containers from the same rack, providing flexibility without increasing manufacturing costs.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the robot carries unnecessary commodities together with target items, then the rack stability is improved, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot extracts and transports only the specific storage container containing the target item, leaving other containers on the rack. This extraction eliminates the energy waste associated with carrying unnecessary commodities while the remaining containers stay on the stable rack structure, maintaining rack stability for future operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of carrying the entire rack or excessive commodities, the robot performs partial action by transporting only the necessary storage container. This partial action reduces energy consumption to the minimum required level while still achieving the sorting objective, and the rack remains stable with the remaining containers.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a robot including a travelling apparatus, a body, a containing apparatus and an item grabbing apparatus. The travelling apparatus is disposed at a bottom of the robot and configured to travel to a preset position based on a travelling path received by the robot. The body is disposed above the travelling apparatus. The containing apparatus is connected to the body and includes multiple containing positions that are interlayers stacked in a vertical direction. One of the interlayers may contain at least one target item. The item grabbing apparatus is disposed on the body and configured to, based on a task received by the robot, grab, at the preset position, a first target item from an item storage apparatus and automatically place the first target item at a containing position of the containing apparatus, or grab, at the preset position, a second target item from the containing position of the containing apparatus and automatically place the second target item in the item storage apparatus.