Systems and methods for processing objects, including automated re-circulating processing stations

A method of processing objects using a plurality of programmable motion devices, comprising:

• transporting a plurality of source containers on an input conveyance system having an input area at each of a plurality of processing stations, each processing station including an inner processing conveyor and an outer processing conveyor disposed adjacent and in parallel on at least one side of a programmable motion device that includes an end effector for grasping an object;
• transporting a plurality of processing containers to the inner processing conveyor and the outer processing conveyor of each processing station from at least one processing container conveyance system;
• perceiving, at each processing station, identifying indicia representative of an identity of a plurality of objects in a source container at each input area of the input conveyance system;
• grasping, at each processing station, an object from the source container using the end effector of the programmable motion device;
• identifying, at each processing station, a processing container that is associated with the identifying indicia from among the plurality of processing containers;
• moving, at each processing station, the identified processing container from the outer processing conveyor to the inner processing conveyor before the programmable motion device moves the object into the identified processing container;
• moving, at each processing station, the object into the identified processing container on the inner processing conveyor using the programmable motion device;
• and
• moving, at each processing station, the identified processing container from the inner processing conveyor to the output processing conveyor using the programmable motion device.

A method of processing objects using a plurality of programmable motion devices, further comprising:

• transporting a plurality of source containers on an input conveyance system having an input area at each of a plurality of processing stations, each processing station including a plurality of processing conveyors and a programmable motion device that includes an end effector for grasping an object, wherein the plurality of processing conveyors includes an inner processing conveyor and an outer processing conveyor disposed adjacent and in parallel on both sides of the programmable motion device;
• and
• transporting processing containers between each processing station and a processing container conveyance system using the outer processing conveyors, at least one of the input conveyance system and the being provided as a loop;
• wherein the method further comprises at each processing station:
• perceiving identifying indicia representative of an identity of a plurality of objects in a source container received at the input area of the input conveyance system;
• moving one or more identified processing containers associated with the identifying indicia transversely from at least one of the outer processing conveyors to at least one of the inner processing conveyors;
• moving one or more objects into the one or more identified processing containers on the at least one inner processing conveyor using the programmable motion device;
• moving the one or more identified processing containers from the at least one inner processing conveyor to an adjacent outer processing conveyor using the programmable motion device;
• and
• transporting the one or more identified processing containers on the adjacent outer processing conveyor out of the processing station onto the processing container conveyance system to one or more other processing stations among the plurality of processing stations.

A processing system for processing objects using a programmable motion device, said processing system comprising:

• a plurality of processing stations, each processing station including a programmable motion device that includes an end effector for grasping an object;
• an input conveyance system having an input area at each of the plurality of processing stations, wherein the input conveyance system selective transports a plurality of source containers to the input area at one or more of the plurality of processing stations;
• each processing station further including a perception unit for perceiving identifying indicia representative of an identity of a plurality of objects in a source container received at the input area of the input conveyance system;
• each processing station further including an inner processing conveyor and an outer processing conveyor disposed adjacent and in parallel on at least one side of the programmable motion device for providing a plurality of processing containers to the programmable motion device;
• a controller that identifies one or more processing containers that are associated with the identifying indicia from among the plurality of processing containers;
• and
• an output conveyance system in communication with the outer processing conveyor at each processing station for transporting any of the plurality of processing containers that contain processed objects out of the processing station,
• wherein any of the one or more identified processing containers on the outer processing container are moved transversely from the outer processing container to the inner processing conveyor adjacent to the programmable motion device, and wherein any of the plurality of processing containers on the inner processing container that are not associated with the identifying indicia are moved transversely from the inner processing conveyor to the outer processing conveyor away from the programmable motion device, and
• wherein the end effector of the programmable motion device moves an object from the source container at the input area of the input conveyance system into any of the one or more identified processing containers on the inner processing conveyor.