US 12,450,773 B2
Method and system for manipulating a target item supported on a substantially horizontal support surface
G. Neil Haven, Clearwater, ID (US)
Assigned to Liberty Robotics Inc., Dexter, MI (US)
Filed by Liberty Reach Inc., Clearwater, ID (US)
Filed on Dec. 20, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/085,100.
Application 18/085,100 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/852,482, filed on Jun. 29, 2022, granted, now 11,557,058.
Application 17/852,482 is a continuation of application No. 17/141,593, filed on Jan. 5, 2021, granted, now 11,436,753, issued on Sep. 6, 2022.
Application 18/085,100 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/491,975, filed on Oct. 1, 2021, granted, now 12,118,778.
Application 18/085,100 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/569,606, filed on Jan. 6, 2022, granted, now 12,125,242.
Prior Publication US 2023/0124076 A1, Apr. 20, 2023
Int. Cl. G06T 7/73 (2017.01); B25J 9/16 (2006.01); G06T 7/00 (2017.01)
CPC G06T 7/74 (2017.01) [B25J 9/1664 (2013.01); B25J 9/1697 (2013.01); G06T 7/0008 (2013.01); G06T 2207/10028 (2013.01)] 32 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of manipulating a target item supported on a substantially horizontal support surface supporting a configuration of substantially identical items aligned substantially perpendicular to the support surface, the method comprising the steps of:
gathering information about the configuration of items within a scene wherein the step of gathering includes the steps of illuminating at least one surface including a top surface of the items in the scene and sensing the irradiance of the scene to obtain at least one image of the geometry of the scene and at least one image of the appearance of the scene;
generating a plurality of hypotheses, each of the hypotheses describing an observation of an item in the configuration, the observations including an observation of the appearance of the item and an observation of the geometry of the item; and
ranking the hypotheses wherein the step of ranking includes the steps of computing a surprisal of the observation of the appearance of the item and a surprisal of the observation of the geometry of the item and combining the surprisals for each hypothesis.