ROBOT INFORMED DYNAMIC PARCEL INFLOW GATING

• Main Authors: Ryan, Timothy, Markota, Rob, Kumar, Shitij, Morris-Downing, Talbot, Poteet, Austen, Tondreau, III, David Leo, Cedarleaf-Pavy, Jordan, Shah, Harshit, Baker, Toby Leonard
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 03.08.2023
• Subjects: CONVEYING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; PACKING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS; SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS; STORING; TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING ORTIPPING; TRANSPORTING

The present application discloses a method, system, and computer system for controlling a gating structure to mediate a flow of items an input source to a pick area. The system includes: (i) the gating structure, which is configured to use a plurality of gate elements to mediate a flow of items from the input source to the pick area, (ii) a sensor configured to provide a sensor output associated with the pick area, and (iii) a processor configured to provide a control input to the gating structure to adjust a configuration of one or more of the plurality of gating elements based at least in part on the sensor output. The sensor output comprises the sensor output comprises one or more of a flow rate, a number, and an orientation of objects in an area associated with picking of objects by one or more robots. The control input is determined based at least in part on one or more of the flow rate, the number, and the orientation of objects in the area associated with picking of objects by one or more robots.