System and method for automatic picking of products in a materials handling facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9486926-B2
Application number	US-201214378300-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 21, 2012
Priority date	Feb 21, 2012
Publication date	Nov 8, 2016
Grant date	Nov 8, 2016

Abstract

Systems and computer-implemented methods are provided for automatically picking up items or products in a materials handling facility. In one embodiment, a system includes a first sensor; a conveyor; a robotic hand including multiple digits, each digit having one or more suction cups attached thereto; a memory; and one or more processors, which are all coupled together. The memory includes program instructions executable by the one or more processors to implement a pick process component configured to: (i) receive sensed information of an item or product delivered on the conveyor from the first sensor; (ii) generate a pick plan comprising processor-executable instructions to control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product; and (iii) control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product from the conveyor by executing the generated pick plan, while selectively activating the one or more suction cups.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a first sensor;
a conveyor;
a robotic hand including multiple digits, each digit having one or more suction cups attached thereto, and at least one of the suction cups including a pressure sensor;
a memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the first sensor, the conveyor, the robotic hand and the memory, wherein the memory comprises program instructions executable by the one or more processors to implement a pick process component configured to:
(a) receive sensed information of an item or product delivered on the conveyor from the first sensor, the sensed information including one or more of a variable shape, variable size, variable hardness and variable texture of the item or product;
(b) based on the received sensed information of the item or product, control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product from the conveyor by selectively activing the one or more suction cups based on one or more pressure values detected by and received from corresponding one or more of the pressure sensors, respectively, which are included in the one or more suction cups, the pressure value being indicative of a pressure applied to the pressure sensor by the item or product; and
(c) store a pick plan comprising processor-executable instructions to control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product in the memory, the pick plan being generated based on the received sensed information of the item or product.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein (b) further includes: (b- 1 ) based on the received sensed information of the item or product, generate a pick plan comprising processor-executable instructions to control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product, and (b- 2 ) execute the generated pick plan.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the robotic hand further includes one or more suction cups attached to a palm portion of the robotic hand, each suction cup including a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure applied thereto by the item or product and to send a detected pressure value to the pick process component.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is a 3D image sensor and the received sensed information is 3D image information of the item or product, and the pick process component is configured, in (b), to control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product based on the received 3D image information of the item or product.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein (b) further includes: (b- 1 ) based on the received sensed information of the item or product, retrieve a pick plan corresponding to the item or product from the memory, and (b- 2 ) control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product both based on the received sensed information of the item or product and according to the retrieved pick plan.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein (b) further include: (b- 3 ) adjust the retrieved pick plan based on the control of the robotic hand performed in (b- 2 ), and (c) includes storing the adjusted pick plan in the memory.

7. A system, comprising:
a first sensor;
a conveyor;
a robotic hand including multiple digits, each digit having one or more suction cups attached thereto, and at least one of the suction cups including a second sensor;
a memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the first sensor, the conveyor, the robotic hand and the memory, wherein the memory comprises program instructions executable by the one or more processors to implement a pick process component configured to:
(a) receive sensed information of an item or product delivered on the conveyor from the first sensor, the sensed information including one or more of a variable shape, variable size, variable hardness and variable texture of the item or product;
(b) generate a pick plan comprising processor-executable instructions to control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product, the pick plan being based on the received sensed information of the item or product; and
(c) control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product from the conveyor by executing the generated pick plan, while selectively activating the one or more suction cups based on one or more measurement values detected by and received from corresponding one or more of the second sensors, respectively, which are coupled to the one or more suction cups, wherein the second sensor is configured to detect a measurement value indicative of a relationship between the second sensor and the item or product to be picked up and to send a detected measurement value to the pick process component.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the second sensor is a pressure sensor.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the robotic hand further includes one or more suction cups attached to a palm of the robotic hand, each suction cup including a second sensor configured to detect a measurement value indicative of a relationship between the second sensor and the item or product and to send a detected measurement value to the pick process component.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the first sensor is a 3D image sensor and the received sensed information is 3D image information, and the pick process component is configured, in (b), to generate a pick plan to control the robotic hand to pick up the item or product based on the received 3D image information of the item or product.

11. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
(a) receiving sensed information of an item or product delivered on a conveyor from a first sensor located relative to the conveyor, the sensed information including one or more of a variable shape, variable size, variable hardness and variable texture of the item or product;
(b) based on the received sensed information of the item or product, generating a pick plan comprising computer-executable instructions to control a robotic hand to pick up the item or product, wherein the robotic hand includes multiple digits, each digit having one or more suction cups attached thereto, and at least one of the suction cups including a second sensor configured to detect a measurement value indicative of a relationship between the second sensor and the item or product to be picked up; and
(c) controlling the robotic hand by executing the generated pick plan and by selectively activating the one or more suction cups based on one or more measurement values detected by corresponding one or more of the second sensors, respectively, which are coupled to the one or more suction cups.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein generating the pick plan to pick up the item or product in (b) comprises retrieving a pick plan corresponding to the item or product from a memory based on the received sensed information of the item or product.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising adjusting the pick plan based on the control of the robotic hand performed in (c).

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein the second sensor is a pressure sensor.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising adjusting the generated pick plan based on the control of the robotic hand performed in (c) including control of selective activation of the one or more suction cups based on one or more measurement values detected by corresponding one or more of the second sensors.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising storing the pick plan in a memory for later use.

Assignees

• Kawano Yasushi
• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Kawano Yasushi

Classifications

• G06Q10/087 Primary

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

• B25J15/0009

  comprising multi-articulated fingers, e.g. resembling a human hand · CPC title

• B25J9/1679

  characterised by the tasks executed · CPC title

• B25J15/08 Primary

  having finger members (B25J15/02, B25J15/04 take precedence) · CPC title

• B25J9/1669

  characterised by special application, e.g. multi-arm co-operation, assembly, grasping · CPC title