Robot system for storage automation and/or method therefor

An Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) robot comprising:

• a chassis defining a midfrontal plane and a midsagittal plane intersecting along a central axis, a reference plane orthogonal to the midfrontal plane and the midsagittal plane, wherein a reference area is defined within the reference plane;
• three drive systems defining orthogonal drive axes, each drive system comprising:
• a first motor arranged to the left of the midsagittal plane and forward of the midfrontal plane;
• a second motor arranged to the left of the midsagittal plane and rearward of the midfrontal plane;
• a third motor arranged to the right of the midsagittal plane and forward of the midfrontal plane;
• and
• a fourth motor arranged to the right of the midsagittal plane and forward of the midfrontal plane,
• wherein each of the first, second, third, and fourth motors is configured to drive rotation of a respective body about a respective axis parallel with the respective drive axis of the drive system;
• and
• a set of deployment mechanisms coupling the drive systems to the chassis and configured to independently articulate each drive system between:
• a first configuration wherein an intersection of the reference plane and each of the respective bodies driven by the first, second, third, and fourth motors is a subset of the reference area;
• and
• a second configuration wherein each of the respective bodies of the first, second, third, and fourth motors does not intersect the reference area.

An Automated Storage and Retrieval System (AS/RS) robot comprising:

• a chassis defining a vertical axis and four quadrants about the vertical axis;
• and within each quadrant:
• a helical drive mechanism comprising a first motor coupled to a roller worm with an axis of rotation parallel with the vertical axis;
• a first actuator coupled to the helical drive mechanism and configured to change a first distance between the axis of rotation of the roller worm and the vertical axis;
• a lateral drive mechanism comprising a second motor and a wheel assembly coupled to the motor;
• and
• a linkage mounted to the chassis and coupling the lateral drive mechanism to the chassis, the linkage comprising a second actuator configured to change a second distance between the second motor and the vertical axis.