US 11,745,348 B2
System and/or method for robotic foodstuff assembly
Rajat Bhageria, San Francisco, CA (US); Clement Creusot, San Francisco, CA (US); Luis Rayas, San Francisco, CA (US); Dean Wilhelmi, San Francisco, CA (US); Harjot Bal, San Francisco, CA (US); Xinyi Daniel Tang, San Francisco, CA (US); Erik Gokbora, San Francisco, CA (US); Connor Buckland, San Francisco, CA (US); Kody Brown, San Francisco, CA (US); and Weston Wahl, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to Chef Robotics, Inc., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by Chef Robotics, Inc., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Aug. 4, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/881,475.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/336,030, filed on Apr. 28, 2022.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/229,420, filed on Aug. 4, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0083652 A1, Mar. 16, 2023
Int. Cl. B25J 13/06 (2006.01); B25J 9/16 (2006.01); B25J 11/00 (2006.01); B25J 9/00 (2006.01)
CPC B25J 9/1687 (2013.01) [B25J 9/0093 (2013.01); B25J 9/161 (2013.01); B25J 9/1653 (2013.01); B25J 9/1664 (2013.01); B25J 9/1697 (2013.01); B25J 11/0045 (2013.01); B25J 13/06 (2013.01)] 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A foodstuff assembly system for transferring bulk foodstuff into containers on a conveyor line, the foodstuff assembly system comprising:
a frame;
a sensor suite comprising a set of cameras mounted to the frame and a plurality of weight measurement sensors mounted to the frame, each weight measurement sensor of the plurality configured to support a base end of a respective foodstuff bin of a set of foodstuff bins at a superior surface of the weight measurement sensor;
a robot arm mounted within the frame, a base of the robot arm mounted at a first mounting height above a height of the superior surface of each weight measurement sensor, the robot arm comprising a utensil actuator at a distal end of the robot arm, wherein a geometry of the robot arm defines an arm workspace of a first volume, wherein the frame defines a robot workspace of a second volume, wherein the second volume is less than half of the first volume;
a food utensil mechanically fastened to an actuation output of the utensil actuator; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the sensor suite and the robot arm, wherein the controller is configured to, based on image data from the set of cameras, control the robot arm and thereby manipulate the food utensil to:
pick a bulk amount of bulk foodstuff from within the set of foodstuff bins based on a topography of the bulk foodstuff; and
place the bulk amount of bulk foodstuff into a container on the conveyor line.