Kitting machine
AssigneeDexterity, Inc.
InventorsSamir Menon, Gerald Brantner, Zhouwen Sun, Robert Hegdahl, Kevin Jose Chavez
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Abstract
A kitting machine is disclosed. In various embodiments, the machine includes an actuator configured to move a surface or receptacle to a position associated with item retrieval; and a controller configured to control operation of the actuator to position an item in the position associated with item retrieval, in a manner that is synchronized at least in part with operation of a robotic retrieval device configured to retrieve the item from the position associated with item retrieval.
Claims20
A system, comprising:
- an actuator configured to move a surface or receptacle to a position associated with item retrieval;
- a controller associated with a robotic retrieval device;
- and
- a processor configured to:
- obtain a plan to retrieve an item and to pack the item into a box or other container, wherein the plan includes a coordination of controlling the robotic retrieval device and the actuator so that the actuator moves the item to the position associated with item retrieval and the robotic retrieval device moves to retrieve the item from the position associated with item retrieval;
- control the robotic retrieval device via the controller to attempt to perform an individual task of picking up the item according to a first predefined strategy;
- and
- in response to a determination that the individual task was not completed using the first predefined strategy:
- select an alternative strategy from a plurality of alternative strategies to perform the individual task based on a respective confidence score associated with the alternative strategy, and
- iteratively using at least the robotic retrieval device to perform the individual task according to one or more of the plurality of alternative strategies for the individual task until the individual task is completed or a prescribed number of attempts have been performed.
A method to operate a kitting system comprising an actuator configured to move a surface or receptacle to a position associated with item retrieval and a controller associated with a robotic retrieval device, the method comprising:
- obtaining a plan to retrieve an item and to pack the item into a box or other container, wherein the plan includes a coordination of controlling the robotic retrieval device and the actuator so that the actuator moves the item to the position associated with item retrieval and the robotic retrieval device moves to retrieve the item from the position associated with item retrieval;
- controlling a robotic retrieval device to attempt to perform an individual task of picking up the item according to a first predefined strategy;
- and
- in response to determining that the individual task was not completed using the first predefined strategy:
- selecting an alternative strategy from a plurality of alternative strategies to perform the individual task based on a respective confidence score associated with the alternative strategy, and
- iteratively using at least the robotic retrieval device to perform the individual task according to one or more of the plurality of alternative strategies for the individual task until the individual task is completed or a prescribed number of attempts have been performed.
A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions to operate a kitting system comprising an actuator configured to move a surface or receptacle to a position associated with item retrieval and a controller associated with a robotic retrieval device, the computer program product comprising computer instructions for:
- obtaining a plan to retrieve an item and to pack the item into a box or other container, wherein the plan includes a coordination of controlling the robotic retrieval device and the actuator so that the actuator moves the item to the position associated with item retrieval and the robotic retrieval device moves to retrieve the item from the position associated with item retrieval;
- controlling a robotic retrieval device to attempt to perform an individual task of picking up the item according to a first predefined strategy;
- and
- in response to determining that the individual task was not completed using the first predefined strategy:
- selecting an alternative strategy from a plurality of alternative strategies to perform the individual task based on a respective confidence score associated with the alternative strategy, and
- iteratively using at least the robotic retrieval device to perform the individual task according to one or more of the plurality of alternative strategies for the individual task until the individual task is completed or a prescribed number of attempts have been performed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.