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US 11,691,301 B2Granted
Detection and measurement of wear of robotic manipulator touch points
AssigneeOcado Innovation Limited
InventorDavid Gabriel Hallock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robotic system includes a robotic manipulator having one or more contact pads. The contact pads have features therein that are detectable to determine or measure a degree to which they have worn down. Such features may include fluorescent materials, colorful materials, and/or RFID tags. A robotic environment may include one or more sensors to detect such features, and may be configured to generate a signal indicating that one or more contact pads are in need of maintenance.
Claims20
A contact pad for use in a robotic manipulator, comprising:
- a body having a proximal end and a distal end opposite to the proximal end across a length of the contact pad, a first side and a second side opposite to the first side across a thickness of the contact pad, and a first edge and a second edge opposite to the first edge across a width of the contact pad;
- a touch point at the distal end of the body;
- and
- a layer of fluorescent material embedded within the body.
1 more element
A robotic system comprising:
- a robotic manipulator including a contact pad, wherein the contact pad includes a body having a proximal end and a distal end opposite to the proximal end across a length of the contact pad, a first side and a second side opposite to the first side across a thickness of the contact pad, and a first edge and a second edge opposite to the first edge across a width of the contact pad;
- a touch point at the distal end of the body of the contact pad;
- and
- a radio-frequency identification tag embedded within the body of the contact pad.
1 more element
A robotic system, comprising:
- a robotic manipulator including a contact pad, wherein the contact pad includes a body having a proximal end and a distal end opposite to the proximal end across a length of the contact pad, a first side and a second side opposite to the first side across a thickness of the contact pad, and a first edge and a second edge opposite to the first edge across a width of the contact pad;
- a touch point at the distal end of the body of the contact pad;
- a source of electromagnetic radiation embedded within the body of the contact pad;
- and
- a sensor configured to detect electromagnetic radiation generated by the source of electromagnetic radiation embedded within the body of the contact pad and communicate a measurement of the electromagnetic radiation to a control system.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.