Robotic system having shuttle
AssigneeNimble Robotics, Inc.
InventorsSimon Kalouche, Kevin Kruempelstaedter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A robotic system includes a robot having a picking arm to grasp an inventory item and a shuttle. The shuttle includes a platform adapted to receive the inventory item from the picking arm of the robot. The platform is moveable between a pick-up location located substantially adjacent to the robot and an end location spaced a distance apart from the pick-up location. The system improves efficiency as transportation of the item from the pick-up location to the end location is divided between the robot and the shuttle.
Claims19
A robotic system for sorting items, comprising:
- a put wall having cubbies;
- and
- a shuttle including:
- a track extending along a first side of the put wall in a first horizontal direction;
- a carriage moveable along the track;
- a vertical post extending from the carriage;
- and
- a platform moveable along the vertical post and relative to the carriage such that the platform is arranged to receive an item at a pick-up location and deposit the item into a select one of the cubbies.
A robotic system for sorting items, comprising:
- containers defining an open top, the containers being arranged in a first horizontal row and a second horizontal row;
- and
- a shuttle including:
- a track extending in a first horizontal direction;
- a carriage translatable along the track;
- and
- a platform coupled to the carriage and translatable relative to the carriage in a second horizontal direction transverse to the first horizontal direction, the platform being arranged to receive an item at a pick-up location, carry the item to a select one of the containers, and deposit the item into the select one of the containers.
A method of sorting items, comprising:
- picking a first item to singulate the first item;
- placing the singulated first item on a shuttle, the shuttle including a track, a carriage moveable along the track, and a platform;
- moving the carriage along the track in a first direction and moving the platform relative to the carriage in a second direction transverse to the first direction;
- and
- actuating at least a portion of the platform in a third direction to deposit the singulated first item into a first sorting location after the moving step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.