Mechanism for supplying mosaic tile to an automated tile setter

A system for supplying mosaic tiles to an automated mosaic tile setter, the system comprising:

• a first pick-and-place robot configured for loading mosaic tiles into hoppers, the mosaic tiles comprising a plurality of characteristics;
• a first controller operatively connected to the first pick-and-place robot and programmed to control the first pick-and-place robot to:
• automatically load the mosaic tiles into the hoppers on one of a last-in, first-out basis, or a last-in, last-out basis;
• and
• synchronize the automatic loading with an optimized ordering of the mosaic tiles, based on a desired pattern of a mosaic tile arrangement;
• a second pick-and-place robot configured to pick and place the loaded mosaic tiles from the hoppers;
• and
• a second controller operatively connected to the second pick-and-place robot and programmed to control the second pick-and-place robot to:
• pick the mosaic tiles from the hoppers;
• and
• place the mosaic tiles onto sheets of underlayment material in arrangements that form sections of the mosaic tile arrangement.

A method of supplying mosaic tile to an automated mosaic tile setter, the method comprising:

• automatically loading a variety of mosaic tiles selected from mosaic tiles of at least two different colors, textures, patterns, or other visual or tactile characteristics into a plurality of hoppers, wherein the automatic loading comprises:
• controlling a first pick-and-place robot to pick each of the mosaic tiles from a source of the mosaic tiles and place each respective mosaic tile into a respective one of the plurality of hoppers based on:
• one of a last-in, first-out basis, or a last-in, last-out basis;
• and
• a desired pattern of a mosaic tile arrangement for installation at a work site;
• picking each respective one of the loaded mosaic tiles from each of the plurality of hoppers using a second pick-and-place robot;
• computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) machining one or more of the respective mosaic tiles picked from a respective one of the hoppers based on the desired pattern of the mosaic tile arrangement before placing the respective mosaic tiles on one of a plurality of sheets of underlayment material;
• and
• placing each respective one of the mosaic tiles picked by the second pick-and-place robot onto one of the plurality of sheets of underlayment material in a tessellated arrangement, wherein each of the plurality of sheets is configured to support and hold the respective mosaic tiles in respective positions relative to each other for transport to the work site and installation to form the mosaic tile arrangement.