Robotic grasping of items in inventory system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016167227-A1
Application number	US-201414572332-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 16, 2014
Priority date	Dec 16, 2014
Publication date	Jun 16, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Robotic arms or manipulators can be utilized to grasp inventory items within an inventory system. Information about an item to be grasped can be detected and/or accessed from one or more databases to determine a grasping strategy for grasping the item with a robotic arm or manipulator. For example, one or more accessed databases can contain information about the item, characteristics of the item, and/or similar items, such as information indicating grasping strategies that have been successful or unsuccessful for such items in the past.

First claim

1 . An inventory management system, comprising:
a robotic arm; an imaging device; and a management module configured to:
determine an identity of an inventory item located at a station;
access, based on the determined identity of the inventory item, a record in an item database including characteristics of the inventory item;
receive optical information from the imaging device related to geometric characteristics of the inventory item as observed at the station;
identify, based at least in part on the characteristics from the record and the geometric characteristics of the inventory item, a grasping strategy for grasping the inventory item with the robotic arm, the grasping strategy being accessed from an item grasping database storing a plurality of grasping strategies for the inventory item, the plurality of grasping strategies for the inventory item being generated based at least in part on at least one of (i) one or more characteristics of the inventory item including at least one of weight, electrical conductivity, magnetic properties, slipperiness, porosity, deformability, or structural integrity; (ii) evaluation of a human-based grasping strategy for grasping the inventory item; (iii) grasping strategies for items with characteristics similar to the characteristics of the inventory item; or (iv) information about a success of grasping strategies that have been previously employed; and
generate information for causing the robotic arm to perform the identified grasping strategy on the inventory item located at the station.

2 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein the grasping strategy designates, based at least in part on at least one of the record or the optical information, at least one of:
at least one end effector; an intensity at which the at least one end effector is to be operated; or an orientation at which the robotic arm is to approach the inventory item.

3 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the characteristics comprises at least one of:
weight; electrical conductivity; magnetic properties; slipperiness; porosity; deformability; or structural integrity.

4 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the geometric characteristics comprises at least one of:
size; shape; position; or orientation.

5 . The inventory management system of claim 1 , wherein the management module is further configured to update the record to reflect the optical information about the geometric characteristics of the inventory item.

6 . A method comprising, under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions:
determining an identity of an inventory item; accessing, based on the determined identity of the inventory item, a record in an item database including a set of stored characteristics of the inventory item; receiving information from one or more sensors about a detected set of characteristics of the inventory item; accessing information from the item database about characteristics of a plurality of inventory items; determining one or more inventory items from the plurality of inventory items having characteristics in common with at least one of the set of stored characteristics from the record or the detected set of characteristics; accessing grasping strategies from an item grasping database for a robotic manipulator for each of the one or more inventory items of the plurality of inventory items; identifying, from the grasping strategies of each of the one or more inventory items, a grasping strategy for the inventory item using the robotic manipulator; and generating instructions for the robotic manipulator to grasp the inventory item utilizing the identified grasping strategy for the inventory item.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the detected set of characteristics includes at least one of:
weight; electrical conductivity; magnetic properties; slipperiness; porosity; deformability; structural integrity; size; shape; position; or orientation.

8 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving evaluation information about a success of the identified grasping strategy; and updating the item grasping database based on the evaluation information.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein receiving evaluation information about the success of the identified grasping strategy comprises receiving information that the identified grasping strategy was successful, wherein updating the item grasping database based on the evaluation information comprises updating the item grasping database to reflect that the identified grasping strategy is a recommended grasping strategy for grasping inventory items having characteristics in common with the detected set of characteristics.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein receiving evaluation information about the success of the identified grasping strategy comprises receiving information that the identified grasping strategy was unsuccessful, wherein updating the item grasping database based on the evaluation information comprises updating the item grasping database to reflect that the identified grasping strategy is not a recommended grasping strategy for grasping inventory items having characteristics in common with the detected set of characteristics.

11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying, from the grasping strategies of each of the one or more inventory items, a grasping strategy for the inventory item using the robotic manipulator comprises identifying the grasping strategy based at least in part on input from a human operator received through a human-based grasping strategy module for grasping the inventory item.

12 . The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying, from the grasping strategies of each of the one or more inventory items, a grasping strategy for the inventory item using the robotic manipulator comprises identifying the grasping strategy based at least in part on input from a human operator received through a human-based grasping strategy module for grasping the one or more inventory items of the plurality of inventory items.

13 . The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying, from the grasping strategies of each of the one or more inventory items, a grasping strategy for the inventory item using the robotic manipulator comprises identifying the grasping strategy based at least in part on physical constraints associated with a location from which the inventory item is to be grasped.

14 . The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying, from the grasping strategies of each of the one or more inventory items, a grasping strategy for the inventory item using the robotic manipulator comprises identifying the grasping strategy based at least in part on physical constraints associated with a location in which the inventory item is to be placed after being grasped.

15 . The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying, from the grasping strategies of each of the one or more inventory items, a grasping strategy for the inventory item using the robotic manipulator comprises identifying the grasping strategy based at least in part on information about a ranking with respect to success of grasping strategies that have been previously employed.

16 . An inventory management system, comprising:
a station comprising: a picking area configured to receive an inventory holder carrying an inventory item; a grasping area comprising a tray and one or more sensors; a robotic arm; a release area configured to receive a box; a packing area; and a transfer mechanism configur

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Wellman Parris S
• Verminski Matthew David
• Stubbs Andrew
• Shydo Jr Robert Michael
• Claretti Ennio
• Aronchik Boris
• Longtine John Gregory

Classifications

• G05B2219/39473

  Autonomous grasping, find, approach, grasp object, sensory motor coordination · CPC title

• B65G1/1378

  the orders being assembled on fixed commissioning areas remote from the storage areas · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• B25J9/1612 Primary

  characterised by the hand, wrist, grip control · CPC title

• Y10S901/31

  Gripping jaw · CPC title