System and method for navigating in 3d from any cell to any cell with a single material handling robot

A system, comprising:

• a multi-level storage rack comprising a 3D grid of cuboid cells, the multi-level storage rack comprising:
• a set of rails along a set of laterally-adjacent cells within the 3D grid of cuboid cells,
• a set of vertical tracks along a set of vertically-adjacent cells within the 3D grid of cuboid cells, wherein the set of vertical tracks extends through a first set of cells above the set of horizontal tracks and through a second set of cells below the set of horizontal tracks, wherein the multi-level storage rack is configured for a material handling robot to navigate along the rails and the vertical tracks.

A method for storing material in an automated storage and retrieval system, the system comprising a multi-level storage rack including a plurality of cuboid cells and a material handling robot configured to navigate along a set of vertical tracks and a set of horizontal tracks of the multi-level storage rack, and the method comprising:

• engaging a set of second engagement structures disposed at arms extending outward from corners of the material handling robot with a set of first engagement structures disposed along structural columns of a first cuboid cell;
• and
• driving the second engagement structures to rotate along the structural columns of the first cuboid cell to vertically move the material handling robot from the first cuboid cell to a second cuboid cell, wherein the first and second cuboid cells are above and below a first set of horizontal tracks of the plurality, respectively.