System and process for picking tires in an unknown arrangement

1 . A computer-implemented process for directing the movement of a robot incorporating a gripper that picks a target tire from an arrangement of tires, the process comprising the following steps:

a step of providing a system for picking one or more tires stored in the arrangement of tires, the robot forming part of the system;

a step of determining one or more parameters of the target tire in the arrangement of tires, during which step the system obtains one or more digital images of the stored tires to identify the tire that becomes a candidate for picking, and in which the parameters of the imaged target tire comprise at least one of the following parameters:

an inner boundary and an outer boundary that together define the boundaries of the sidewall of the target tire,

a rim radius defined as being a distance between a central point of the target tire and the inner boundary of the sidewall,

an inner sidewall diameter defined as being twice the rim radius,

a tire radius defined as being a distance between the central point and the outer boundary of the sidewall, or

a tire diameter defined as being twice the tire radius;

a step of determining a diameter of the target tire;

a step of determining a tire radius and a rim radius of the target tire;

an approaching step whereby the robot approaches the target tire identified for picking;

a picking step whereby the target tire is picked by the gripper; and

a step of extracting the target tire from the arrangement of tires in order to place it in a target location,

wherein the gripper comprises:

a platform with a predetermined length between an attachment end, at which the platform is detachably attached to the robot, and an opposite free end, the platform comprising:

a substantially planar outer face with an exterior side that protects the platform and an opposite interior side; and

a substantially planar inner face with an exterior side and an opposite interior side, the inner face incorporating a path from the free end to a stop of the platform,

with each substantially planar outer face and each substantially planar inner face having a predetermined width and a predetermined length that extends between the attachment end and the free end of the platform, and the two faces being separated by a predetermined distance between the interior side of the substantially planar outer face and the opposite interior side of the substantially planar inner face; and

an internal finger and an external finger housed in the platform, each of the internal finger and the external finger comprising a pivotable and retractable member of predetermined length that extends between an actuation end and an opposite engagement end,

with each finger being movable along the path of the inner face of the platform between a standby position, in which each finger is folded into a position substantially parallel to the plane of the inner face, and an engagement position, in which each finger is unfolded into an angular position with respect to the plane of the inner face so that it is ready to engage the target tire along the inner boundary of the sidewall of the selected target tire.

2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining one or more parameters of a target tire comprises the following steps:

a step of analyzing the image of the target tire to identify one or more vertical front edges of the target tire in the image, during which step the inner boundary of the sidewall is identified; and

a step of measuring a distance between a vertical front edge and the inner boundary to determine a height of the sidewall of the target tire, during which step data corresponding to the vertical front edges is used to identify a centerline of the target tire, and during which step the image of the target tire is analyzed to calculate the inner boundary and a vertical rear edge.

3 . The process of claim 2 , wherein the step of determining the diameter of the target tire comprises a step of determining a distance between an imaged vertical front edge and the calculated vertical rear edge, including determining a distance between the inner boundary of the sidewall and the vertical rear edge to obtain an average sidewall height corresponding to a size of the target tire.

4 . The process of claim 3 , wherein, during the step of determining the tire radius and the rim radius of the target tire, the tire radius of the target tire is determined as being half the diameter of the target tire,

the rim radius of the target tire is determined as being half the diameter of the inner boundary of the sidewall of the target tire; and

a central point situated along a centerline of the target tire is identified as being a distance of the rim radius with respect to a vertical front edge or to the vertical rear edge.

5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the approaching step comprises a step whereby the gripper approaches the target tire and the internal finger extends, during which step the gripper is directed so that an interior side of an end stop comes into proximity of a tread surface of the target tire and, at the same time, the internal finger pivots to extend its engagement end toward an engagement point of the inner boundary of the sidewall.

6 . The process of claim 5 , wherein, during the step of picking the target tire, the internal finger moves along the interior side of the substantially planar inner face of the platform toward a first engagement point along the inner boundary of the sidewall until the internal finger engages the first engagement point.

7 . The process of claim 6 , wherein the step of picking the target tire comprises a step of moving the external finger along the interior side of the substantially planar inner face of the platform toward a second engagement point along the inner boundary of the sidewall, during which step the external finger pivots to extend its engagement end toward the second engagement point so that the internal finger and the external finger are extended along the rim diameter of the target tire.

8 . The process of claim 7 , wherein the step of extracting the target tire comprises a step of transporting the target tire toward the target location, and wherein the extracting is performed by the robot.

9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the process further comprises the following steps:

a step of providing a detection system comprising one or more sensors that capture one or more images of a physical environment around the robot incorporating the arrangement of tires and that collect representative data in a field of view of the sensors; and

a step of providing a processor comprising an image processing module that applies the representative data to a deployed neural network and that analyzes the captured images in order to determine, using the deployed neural network, one or more parameters of a target tire imaged in the field of view of the sensors,

such that the robot is set in motion based on the determined parameters of the target tire so that the gripper can pick a target tire selected by the system along an inner boundary of a sidewall of the selected target tire.

10 . The process of claim 9 , wherein the processor refers to a table of tires of various sizes in order to determine one or more parameters of the target tire.