Search

CN-122029008-A - Unloading system for automatically unloading objects

CN122029008ACN 122029008 ACN122029008 ACN 122029008ACN-122029008-A

Abstract

The invention relates to an unloading system (100) for automatically unloading an object (50), comprising a robotic arm (110) comprising a gripper (115) and a control unit (150). The control unit (150) is configured to drive the robotic arm (110) to place the gripper (115) at a side surface (55) of the object (50) and to allow the gripper (115) to apply a lateral force to the object (50) and to drive the object (50) to slide onto the loading surface (125).

Inventors

  • Tom Blondel
  • William Wanderhoedoc

Assignees

  • ABB瑞士股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20231017

Claims (20)

  1. 1. An unloading system (100) for automatically unloading an object (50), comprising: -a robotic arm (110) comprising a gripper (115); A control unit (150); wherein the control unit (150) is configured to drive the robotic arm (110) to place the gripper (115) at the object (50), and Wherein the control unit (150) is configured to allow the gripper (115) to apply a lateral force to the object (50) and to drive the object (50) to slide onto a loading surface (125).
  2. 2. The unloading system (100) according to claim 1, The gripper (115) of the robotic arm (110) is a vacuum gripper, a magnetic gripper, a pneumatic gripper, an adhesive gripper, a gecko gripper, a mechanical gripper or a biomimetic gripper.
  3. 3. The unloading system (100) according to claim 1 or 2, The gripper (115) comprises at least one suction element; Wherein the at least one suction element is configured to allow the gripper (115) to grip the object (50) on a side surface (55) and to drive the object (50) to slide directly onto the loading surface (125).
  4. 4. The unloading system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, The loading surface (125) is a loading surface of a conveyor, an open-ended loading surface, or a loading surface (125) of a loading plate.
  5. 5. The unloading system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 3, further comprising: -the loading plate (120) comprises the loading surface (125); Wherein the control unit (150) is configured to allow the gripper (115) to pull the object (50) to slide onto the loading surface (125) and/or to release the object (50) onto the loading surface (125).
  6. 6. The unloading system (100) according to claim 5, Wherein the grippers (115) are arranged at the same side as the loading plate (120).
  7. 7. The unloading system (100) according to claim 5 or 6, Wherein the loading plate (120) is a movable loading plate; Wherein the control unit (150) is configured to move the loading plate (120) and to adjust the position of the loading plate (120) based on the position of the object (50) for arranging the loading surface (125) and for allowing the object (50) to slide onto the loading surface (125).
  8. 8. The unloading system (100) of claim 5 or 6, further comprising: an object detection unit (130); wherein the object detection unit (130) is configured to detect the position of the object (50), and Wherein the control unit (150) is configured to move the loading plate (120) based on the detected position of the object (50) for arranging the loading surface (125) and for allowing the object (50) to slide onto the loading surface (125).
  9. 9. The unloading system (100) according to claim 8, Wherein the object detection unit (130) is configured to detect at least one characteristic of the object (50) for determining a region of the side surface (55) of the object (50) for the gripper (115) to be placed; Wherein the at least one characteristic of the object (50) comprises a size, shape, center of gravity, type of material, and/or manner of packaging of the object (50).
  10. 10. The unloading system (100) according to claim 9, Wherein the object (50) is a carton, bag or crate.
  11. 11. A robotic arm (110) for an unloading system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the robot comprising: A gripper (115) configured to be placed at an object (50) and to apply a lateral force to the object (50) for driving the object (50) to slide onto a loading surface (125).
  12. 12. A loading plate (120) for an unloading system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the loading plate comprising: A loading surface (125); Wherein the loading plate (120) is configured to be movable by means of the control unit (150), and the position of the loading plate (120) is configured to be adjusted based on the position of the object (50) for arranging the loading surface (125) and for allowing the object (50) to slide onto the loading surface (125).
  13. 13. Use of an unloading system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 20 for automatically unloading objects (50) from a container (20) or a container of a truck (10).
  14. 14. A method (400) for automatically unloading an object (50) by means of an unloading system (100), comprising the steps of: -driving (410) a robotic arm (110) by means of a control unit (150) and placing a gripper (115) of the robotic arm (110) at the object (50); The gripper (115) is allowed (430) to apply a lateral force to the object (50) and drive the object (50) to slide onto a loading surface (125).
  15. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of: -moving (420) a loading plate (120) comprising the loading surface (125) by means of the control unit (150), and-adjusting the position of the loading plate (120) based on the position of the object (50) for arranging the loading surface (125) and for allowing the object (50) to slide onto the loading surface (125).
  16. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of: -detecting the position of the object (50) by means of an object detection unit (130) for movement (420) of the loading plate (120) for arranging the loading surface (125) and for allowing the object (50) to slide onto the loading surface (125).
  17. 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of: -detecting at least one characteristic of the object (50) by means of the object detection unit (130) for determining an area of a side surface (55) of the object (50) for the gripper (115) to be placed; Wherein the at least one characteristic of the object (50) comprises a size, shape, center of gravity, type of material, and/or manner of packaging of the object (50).
  18. 18. A computer program comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed by one or more computers and/or computing instances, cause the one or more computers and/or computing instances to perform the method of any one of claims 14 to 17.
  19. 19. A non-transitory machine readable data carrier and/or download product having a computer program according to claim 18.
  20. 20. One or more computer and/or computing instances having a computer program according to claim 18 and/or a machine readable data carrier and/or download product according to claim 19.

Description

Unloading system for automatically unloading objects Technical Field The present disclosure relates to industrial process automation. In particular, the present disclosure relates to an unloading system for automatically unloading an object, a robotic arm for an unloading system, a loading plate for an unloading system, a use of an unloading system for automatically unloading an object from a container of a container or truck, a method for automatically unloading an object, a computer program, a non-transitory machine-readable data carrier and/or a downloaded product with the computer program, and one or more computer and/or computing instances with the computer program and/or with the machine-readable data carrier and/or the downloaded product. Background Industrial automation systems can provide efficient and cost-effective solutions for a variety of applications of modern continuous, batch, and discrete processes. Among these, automatic unloading of containers and trucks, including bulk unloading and item-by-item unloading, is of great significance in the field of logistics automation. One of the supply chain bottlenecks in an industrial automation process may be that the process of automatic unloading of containers has not been fully addressed. With the conventional arrangement of robotic grasping, objects or articles within a container or truck may be lifted or carried from the top or side when picked up by the robot and then placed on a conveyor. Such lifting mechanisms are limited by embodiments due to limited space above the items to be picked up and the design, weight, and materials of the individual items. Disclosure of Invention One of the objects of the present invention may be seen as providing an optimized robotic container unloading system with increased flexibility and automation efficiency. This object is achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims. The dependent claims, the following description and the accompanying drawings show embodiments of the invention. According to a first aspect of the present invention, an unloading system for automatically unloading an object is provided. The unloading system comprises a robot arm comprising a gripper and a control unit. The control unit is configured to drive the robotic arm to place the gripper at the object. Furthermore, the control unit is configured to allow the gripper to apply a lateral force to the object and to drive the object to slide onto the loading surface. For example, the gripper of the robotic arm may be placed at a specific area of the object for applying lateral forces and allowing sliding or translational movement of the object. In particular, the control unit may be configured to arrange the gripper at a side surface of the object. The side surfaces of the object may be varied and flexible depending on the spatial conditions of the unloading process. Alternatively or additionally, the gripper may be placed on a predetermined area of the object for moving the object, for example on an edge of the object. The unloading system may be implemented for object-by-object or item-by-item unloading. The object may initially be placed in an object unit comprising a plurality of objects in a container or truck. Alternatively or additionally, the unloading system may also be used for unloading multiple or bulk objects, for example, when multiple objects may be placed on the same horizontal plane and/or the gripper may be designed to handle or substantially cover multiple objects. Compared to lifting or handling mechanisms used in conventional unloading processes for unloading articles or objects from the top of the object, the robotic arm may, for example, drag or pull the object directly onto a loading surface of a loading plate or conveyor. Advantageously, the drag or pull mechanism of the unloading system can optimize the unloading capacity and eliminate kinematic problems that can occur when attempting to lift an item. It is contemplated that most objects in a container or truck (e.g., cartons) may not be designed to be lifted from the top. For example, the strength, weight, and thickness of the carton and/or its contents may not be designed for the lifting mechanism during the unloading process. In addition, manipulating the object from the top creates challenges in terms of inertia and delamination from the underlying object. In contrast, the use of the "drag-and-drop" approach can efficiently address the above technical limitations and increase the capacity to manual operation levels. For example, object inertia and carton strength may need to be considered when handling or lifting objects with robotic grippers. This risk can be eliminated when sliding the object or item directly onto the loading surface. In this manner, the cycle of the drag-maneuver-and-release process using the unloading system may take less time than the cycle of the pick-up or lift-maneuver-and-drop process using a conventional unloading gripper,