System and process for picking tires in an unknown arrangement

A tire picking system that performs a process for picking one or more tires stored in an unknown arrangement and for which a target location must be realized, the system comprising:

• a robot with a gripping device supported by a pivotable elongated arm, the gripping device extending from the elongated arm to a free end;
• a gripper arranged along a longitudinal axis at the free end of the gripping device;
• a detection system having one or more sensors that capture one or more images of a physical environment around the robot incorporating the stored tires and that collect representative data in a field of view of the sensors;
• and
• a processor comprising an image processing module that applies the representative data to a deployed neural network and that analyzes the captured images in order to determine, using the deployed neural network, one or more parameters of a target tire imaged in the field of view of the sensors,
• such that the robot is set in motion based on the determined parameters of the target tire, so that the gripper can pick the target tire selected by the system from among the stored tires along an inner boundary of a sidewall of the selected target tire,
• wherein the gripper comprises:
• a platform with a predetermined length between an attachment end, at which the platform is removably attached to the robot, and an opposite free end, the platform comprising:
• a substantially planar outer face with an exterior side that protects the platform and an opposite interior side;
• and
• a substantially planar inner face with an exterior side and an opposite interior side, the internal face incorporating a path from the free end as far as a stop of the platform,
• with each of the substantially planar outer face and the substantially planar inner face having a predetermined width and a predetermined length that extends between the attachment end and the free end of the platform, and the two faces being separated by a predetermined distance between the interior side of the substantially planar outer face and the interior side of the substantially planar inner face;
• and
• an internal finger and an external finger housed in the platform, each of the internal finger and the external finger comprising a pivotable and retractable member of predetermined length that extends between an actuation end and an opposite engagement end,
• with each finger being movable along the path of the inner face of the platform between a standby position, in which each finger is folded into a position substantially parallel to the plane of the substantially planar inner face, and an engagement position, in which each finger is unfolded into an angular position with respect to the plane of the substantially planar inner face so that it is ready to engage the target tire along the inner boundary of the sidewall of the selected target tire.