US-20260124753-A1 - METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR REACHABILITY CONSTRAINT MANIPULATION FOR HEIGHT THRESHOLDED SCENARIOS IN ROBOTIC DEPALLETIZATION

US20260124753A1US 20260124753 A1US20260124753 A1US 20260124753A1US-20260124753-A1

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, systems, computing devices, and/or the like are provided. An example method may include detecting a first set of objects, the first set of objects including two or more palletized objects of a plurality of palletized objects in a stack, wherein the two or more palletized objects of the first set of objects are disposed above a threshold height, wherein the stack has a front side and a back side; determining that a first object of the first set is closer than a second object of the first set is to the front side, wherein the first object of the first set is disposed lower than the second object of the first set; and manipulating an end effector to remove the first object from the stack before removing the second object from the stack and to deposit the first object in one or more deposit locations.

Inventors

Abhijit Makhal
Mayank PATHAK
Ayush JHALANI

Assignees

INTELLIGRATED HEADQUARTERS, LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251230

Claims (20)

1 . A computer-implemented method for robotic depalletization, the method comprising: detecting, by a processor, a first set of objects disposed above a threshold height from a plurality of palletized objects in a stack, wherein the first set of objects is arranged in one or more groups of vertically oriented palletized objects, wherein the stack has a front side and a back side, the front side is closer to a deposit location; identifying, by the processor, a first group of vertically oriented objects positioned closer to the deposit location and a robotic system on the front side of the stack; causing, by the processor, the robotic system to manipulate an end effector of the robotic system to depalletize each of the first group of vertically oriented objects; identifying, by the processor, a second group of vertically oriented objects from the first set of objects that are positioned closer to the deposit location and the robotic system on the front side of the stack; and causing, by the processor, the robotic system to manipulate the end effector to depalletize the second group of vertically oriented objects.
2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: detecting a second set of objects disposed below the threshold height from the plurality of palletized objects, wherein the second set of objects comprise two or more additional palletized objects of the plurality of palletized objects arranged in one or more vertical stacks; and causing, by the processor, the end effector of the robotic system to depalletize the first set of objects before depalletizing any of the second set of objects.
3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the deposit location is one of: a conveyor, a warehouse floor, a truck, a trailer bed, a cargo, a shipping container, and a rail freight transport.
4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold height is defined by a set of reachability constraints of the end effector of the robotic system.
5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first set of objects is vertically depalletized by the end effector of the robotic system.
6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein causing the robotic system to depalletize each of the first group of vertically oriented objects further comprises: representing each of the plurality of palletized objects as an object set of electronic data points and the end effector of the robotic system as an end effector set of electronic data points; simulating vertical removal of a first object electronic data point corresponding to a first object from the object set of electronic data points by the end effector set of electronic data points; and determining potential collisions between the first object electronic data point and the end effector set of electronic data points during the simulated vertical removal of the first object electronic data point.
7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising: determining potential collisions between other object electronic data points of the object set of electronic data points and the first object electronic data points.
8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising adjusting the end effector set of electronic data points such that the end effector set of electronic data points is configured to engage a simulated grip on the first object electronic data point without a primary collision during the simulated vertical removal of the first object electronic data point from the object set of electronic data points.
9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising: checking for a pose of a colliding data point associated with the primary collision between the end effector set of electronic data points and the first object set of electronic data point; and shifting the simulated grip based on the colliding data point to avoid the primary collision.
10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the object set of electronic data points are voxels.
11 . A robotic depalletization system, comprising: a perception subsystem configured to: detect a first set of objects disposed above a threshold height from a plurality of palletized objects in a stack, wherein the first set of objects is arranged in one or more groups of palletized objects wherein the stack has a front side and a back side, the front side being closer to a deposit location; one or more processors coupled to the perception subsystem, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a first group of palletized objects positioned closer to the deposit location; in response to determining a first group of palletized objects positioned closer to the deposit location, identify a second group of palletized objects positioned closer to the deposit location than the first group of palletized objects; and a robotic arm comprising an end effector, wherein the robotic arm is coupled to the one or more processors and configured to: manipulate the end effector to depalletize the first group of palletized objects before depalletizing the second group of palletized objects to the deposit location.
12 . The robotic depalletization system of claim 11 , wherein the robotic arm has a reachability constraint, and the perception subsystem is further configured to set the threshold height based on the reachability constraint.
13 . The robotic depalletization system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured to: represent each of the plurality of palletized objects as an object set of electronic data points, and the end effector of the robotic system as an end effector set of electronic data points; simulate vertical removal of a first object electronic data point from the object set of electronic data points by the end effector set of electronic data points; and determine any potential collisions between the first object electronic data point and the end effector set of electronic data points during the simulated vertical removal of the first object electronic data point.
14 . The robotic depalletization system of claim 13 , wherein the object set of electronic data points are voxels that represent a value in a three-dimensional space.
15 . The robotic depalletization system of claim 11 , further configured to: detect a second set of palletized objects disposed below the threshold height from the plurality of palletized objects; and manipulate the end effector to remove the first set of objects before removing any of the second set of palletized objects.
16 . The robotic depalletization system of claim 11 , wherein the perception subsystem comprises one or more of: a camera, a 2-D image capture device, a 3-D image capture device, a time-of-flight image sensor, a stereoscopic imaging sensor, LIDAR, or a height sensing device.
17 . A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising an executable portion configured to: detect, from a perception subsystem associated with a robotic depalletization system, a first set of objects disposed above a threshold height from a plurality of palletized objects in a stack, wherein the first set of objects is arranged in one or more groups of vertically oriented palletized objects, wherein the stack has a front side and a back side, the front side is closer to a deposit location; identify a first group of vertically oriented objects positioned closer to the deposit location; manipulate an end effector associated with a depalletization system to depalletize each of the first group of vertically oriented objects; in response to depalletizing the first group of vertically oriented objects down to the threshold height, identify a second group of vertically oriented objects positioned closure to the deposit location; and manipulate an end effector associated with a depalletization system to depalletize each of the second group of vertically oriented objects.
18 . The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the threshold height is defined by a set of reachability constraints of the robotic depalletization system comprising the end effector.
19 . The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein the reachability constraints comprise boundaries and limits of the robotic depalletization system's capabilities, including a threshold height.
20 . The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the executable portion of the computer-readable program code portion is further configured to: represent a plurality of palletized objects as an object set of electronic data points, and the end effector as an end effector set of electronic data points; simulate vertical removal of a first object electronic data point from the object set of electronic data points by the end effector set of electronic data points; and detect any potential collisions between the first object electronic data point and the end effector set of electronic data points during the simulated vertical removal of the first object electronic data point.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. Ser. No. 17/870,648, filed Jul. 21, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to automated industrial systems, and more particularly to robotics related to depalletization. BACKGROUND Palletizing refers to an operation of loading or conveying an object (such as, but not limited to, a carton, a package, a box, an article, and/or the like) into or onto a stack, such as loading or conveying the object onto a pallet, surface, region, location, or a similar device or space. Depalletizing refers to the operation of unloading or moving an object (such as, but not limited to, a carton, a package, a box, an article, and/or the like) from a stack, such as away from a pallet, surface, region, location, or a similar device or space. Palletization and depalletization may be aided in some instances by means of a robotic system configured for palletization and/or depalletization. Many palletization and/or depalletization solutions face technical challenges and difficulties. For example, if one or more objects in a stack are blocking or otherwise interfering with the interaction between a robotic system and one or more other objects in the stack, the stack may be tipped over and/or the objects may be damaged by the robotic system. The inventors have identified that these interference conditions may change based on the relative positions of the robotic system and the objects. In a robotic depalletization operation, a robotic system may have a limited range in height which makes depalletization tasks challenging where objects are palletized at very high heights. Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, Applicant has solved problems relating to robotic palletization and depalletization by developing solutions embodied in the present disclosure, which are described in detail below. BRIEF SUMMARY In general, aspects of the present disclosure provide methods, apparatuses, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like. In accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure a computer-implemented method for robotic depalletization is provided. The computer-implemented method may include detecting a first set of objects. The first set of objects may include two or more palletized objects of a plurality of palletized objects in a stack. The two or more palletized objects of the first set of objects may be disposed above a threshold height. The stack may have a front side and a back side. The computer-implemented method may also include determining that a first object of the first set is closer than a second object of the first set is to the front side. The first object of the first set may be disposed lower than the second object of the first set. The computer-implemented method may further include manipulating an end effector to remove the first object of the first set from the stack before removing the second object of the first set from the stack and to deposit the first object of the first set in one or more deposit locations. In some aspects, the two or more palletized objects of the first set may also include a third object. The third object of the first set may be lower than the second object of the first set. The third object of the first set may be disposed closer than the second object of the first set is to the front side of the stack. The computer-implemented method may further include manipulating the end effector to remove the third object of the first set from the stack before removing the second object of the first set from the stack and to deposit the third object of the first set in the one or more deposit locations. In some aspects, the two or more palletized objects of the first set may also include a fourth object. The fourth object of the first set may be disposed farther than the second object of the first set is from the front side of the stack. The computer-implemented method may further include manipulating the end effector to remove the second object of the first set from the stack before removing the fourth object from the stack and to deposit the second object in the one or more deposit locations. In some aspects, the computer-implemented method may further include detecting a third palletized object in the stack. The third palletized object may be disposed below the threshold height. The computer-implemented method may further include determining that the third object is closer than the second object of the first set is to the front side. The third object may be disposed lower than the second object of the first set. The computer-implemented method may further include manipulating the end effector to remove the second object from the stack before removing the third object of the first set from the stack and to deposit the second object of the first set in the on