Robot for stacking elements
AssigneeAutoguide, LLC
InventorsDavid Levasseur, Justin Holwell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An example autonomous vehicle includes a body configured for movement along a surface and an end-effector to hold a first element having first and second features that mate to complementary third and fourth features on a second element. At least one of the end-effector or the body is controllable to move in at least four degrees of freedom. The autonomous device includes one or more sensors to detect the second element and to obtain information for locating the third and fourth features of the second element or other compatible device. The autonomous device also includes a control system to control at least one of the end-effector or the body to move in the at least four degrees of freedom to stack the first element on top of the second element.
Claims22
An autonomous vehicle comprising:
- a body configured for movement along a surface;
- an end-effector to hold a first element having first and second features that mate to complementary third and fourth features on a second element, at least one of the end-effector or the body being controllable to move in at least four degrees of freedom, the at least four degrees of freedom comprising forward/backward, up/down, left/right, and at least one of yaw, pitch, or roll;
- one or more sensors to detect the second element and to obtain information for locating the third and fourth features of the second element;
- and
- a control system to control at least one of the end-effector or the body to move in the at least four degrees of freedom to stack the first element on top of the second element by performing operations comprising:
- moving the first element to align the first feature to the third feature, moving the first element to align the second feature to the fourth feature, and moving the first element into contact with the second element so that the first feature mates to the third feature and the second feature mates to the fourth feature.
A method performed by an autonomous vehicle, comprising:
- using an end-effector connected to a body of the autonomous vehicle to pick-up a first element having first and second features that mate to complementary third and fourth features on a second element;
- moving the autonomous vehicle holding the first element along a surface toward a location of the second element;
- detecting the second element, where detecting comprises locating the third and fourth features of the second element;
- and
- controlling at least one of the end-effector or the body to move in at least four degrees of freedom to stack the first element on top of the second element by performing operations comprising:
- moving the first element to align the first feature to the third feature, moving the first element to align the second feature to the fourth feature, and moving the first element into contact with the second element so that the first feature mates to the third feature and the second features mates to the fourth feature;
- wherein the at least four degrees of freedom comprise forward/backward, up/down, left/right, and at least one of yaw, pitch, or roll.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.