Load jam detector
AssigneeTeradyne, Inc.
InventorGeoffrey B. Keating
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A mobile autonomous robot can include a pallet fork for lifting and carrying pallets. During pallet load operations, pallets may become jammed in the fork, which may be referred to as a load jam. To detect load jams, the mobile robots described herein may determine the velocity of a pallet relative to the mobile robot. When the velocity difference falls within a threshold amount, the mobile robot may determine that a load jam has occurred, and may cease or modify the pallet load operation. By autonomously detecting load jams, the mobile robot may increase safety and performance.
Claims22
A mobile robot, comprising:
- a set of wheels configured to move the mobile robot;
- a pallet fork configured to lift and carry pallets;
- a plurality of sensors comprising:
- at least one camera configured to output image data;
- and
- at least one second sensor configured to provide kinematic data;
- and
- at least one processor configured to:
- determine that a pallet load operation has initiated;
- identify a pallet surface;
- and
- determine a velocity of the pallet surface relative to the mobile robot during the pallet load operation using image data output from the at least one camera and kinematic data provided by the at least one second sensor.
A method of detecting load jams during pallet load operations of a mobile robot, the method comprising:
- determining that a pallet load operation has initiated;
- identifying a pallet surface;
- and
- determining a velocity of the pallet surface relative to the mobile robot during the pallet load operation using image data output from at least one camera and kinematic data provided by at least one second sensor.
At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method of detecting load jams during pallet load operations of a mobile robot, the method comprising:
- determining that a pallet load operation has initiated;
- identifying a pallet surface;
- and
- determining a velocity of the pallet surface relative to the mobile robot during the pallet load operation using image data output from at least one camera and kinematic date provided by at least one second sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.