Robotic laundry devices and methods of use

A robotic system for repositioning a deformable laundry article for folding, comprising:

• a conveyor disposed at a bottom of a work volume, the conveyor being configured to transfer the deformable laundry article beyond a perimeter of the work volume;
• at least three lifters disposed about the perimeter of the work volume, each one of the at least three lifters comprising a gripper and at least one drive motor and configured to
• move within the work volume for releasably engaging the deformable laundry article, and
• operate at least one of independently of and in tandem with another of the at least three lifters to suspend the deformable laundry article above the conveyor;
• two or more sensors disposed at two or more fixed locations about the work volume, each of the two or more sensors configured to
• at least one of detect one or more features and capture one or more images of the deformable laundry article disposed within the work volume, and
• output a signal comprising the at least one of the detected one of one or more features and captured one or more images;
• a memory storing data indicative of one or more repositioned deformable laundry articles;
• and
• a controller in operative communication with the memory, the two or more sensors, and the at least one drive motor and gripper of each of the at least three lifters, the controller configured to:
• receive the output signal from one or more of the two or more sensors,
• identify, based on the output signal, one or more grip points adjacent one or more free-hanging edges of the deformable laundry article suspended above the conveyor by one of the at least three lifters, the gripper associated with the one of the at least three lifters being engaged with the deformable laundry article and positioned at a suspension height,
• instruct another of the at least three lifters to grip, with an associated gripper, one of the one or more grip points on the deformable laundry article and lift the gripped one of the one or more grip points to the suspension height along a shared axis defined by an associated gripper of each of the engaged one and another lifter,
• determine whether the deformable laundry article suspended by the one and the another of the at least three lifters is repositioned based on a comparison of the output signal to the data indicative of one or more repositioned deformable laundry articles, and
• instruct, based on a determination of the deformable laundry article being repositioned, the one and the another of the at least three lifters to
• lower the repositioned deformable laundry article onto the conveyor, and
• release the repositioned deformable laundry article disposed on the conveyor.