US 12,338,082 B2
Pick and place robot system, method, use and sorter system
Henrik Frank Skyum, Hadsten (DK); and Andreas Werner, Dortmund (DE)
Assigned to BEUMER Group A/S, Aarhus N (DK)
Appl. No. 17/916,592
Filed by BEUMER Group A/S, Aarhus N (DK)
PCT Filed Mar. 26, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/057875
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Oct. 3, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/198053, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 27, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 20167914 (EP), filed on Apr. 3, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0150777 A1, May 18, 2023
Int. Cl. B65G 47/91 (2006.01); B07C 5/36 (2006.01); B25J 9/16 (2006.01)
CPC B65G 47/917 (2013.01) [B07C 5/361 (2013.01); B25J 9/163 (2013.01); B65G 47/914 (2013.01); B65G 47/918 (2013.01); B65G 2203/0233 (2013.01); B65G 2203/041 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A robot system arranged to receive objects in bulk as a continuously moving stream of objects in bulk, and being arranged to grip a selected object from the moving objects in bulk and to place the object at a target position on an induction to a sorter or directly on a sorter, the system comprising
a pick and place robot comprising
a controllable gripper comprising a plurality of gripping members arranged to engage with a surface of the object to grip the object, wherein the plurality of gripping members are arranged in a controllable gripping configuration, and
a controllable robotic actuator arranged to move the controllable gripper,
a sensor system arranged to provide an image of objects upstream of a position of the pick and place robot, and
a control system arranged to receive said image and to execute a control algorithm arranged to
identify objects in response to said image (IM),
select which one of the identified objects to grip,
control the gripping configuration of the plurality of gripping members in response to properties of the selected object determined from said image,
control the controllable robotic actuator to move the controllable gripper to a position for gripping the selected object, and control the controllable gripper to grip the selected object,
control the controllable robotic actuator and the controllable gripper to move the object and to release the object at the target position, and
provide an image of the object after being placed at the target position, wherein the control system is arranged to provide said image of an object after being placed at the target position as a feedback to the control algorithm, and wherein the control system comprises a learning algorithm arranged to learn characteristics in the image of objects which have a high or low rate of success of being placed at the target position, based on a plurality of images of the objects after being placed at the target position.