Apparatuses and systems for the automated retrieval, transport, and processing of articles
A system and an apparatus for dispensing and retrieving products is provided. The system may include: a grasping head; first and second grasping members, each grasping member comprising: a top member; a post member; and first and second grasping fingers, where the first and second grasping fingers extend from the post member and are spaced apart from the top member by a predetermined distance, where the first and second grasping members are connected to the grasping head, where at least one of the first and second grasping members is movably connected to the grasping head, where the at least one of the first and second grasping members is movable relative to the other of the first and second grasping members.
1 . A system comprising:
a plurality of sensors;
a processing line;
a container disposed between the plurality of sensors and the processing line; and
at least one computing device configured to:
determine, based on a type of the container, a first cap type of a plurality of cap types, wherein each cap type of the plurality of cap types is associated with a corresponding cap size;
based on the first cap type, measure, via at least one first sensor of the plurality of sensors, a distance between the at least one first sensor and a top of a cap of the container, wherein the at least one first sensor is positioned above the processing line;
determine, based on the type of the container and the corresponding cap size associated with the first cap type, an anticipated distance between the at least one first sensor and the top of the cap of the container;
determine a difference between the anticipated distance and the measured distance; and
provide an alert in response to the difference satisfying a predetermined distance, wherein the alert and the predetermined distance are associated with the first cap type.
2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a container puck disposed between the container and the processing line, wherein the container puck comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.
3 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising an RFID reader, wherein the RFID reader is configured to read the RFID tag.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one computing device is configured to identify the container and the first cap type based on the RFID tag.
5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to:
determine, via the RFID reader, a unique identifier of the container puck, wherein the RFID tag comprises the unique identifier; and
identify, based on the unique identifier, the type of the container and the first cap type.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to store an association between the unique identifier of the container puck with the type of the container and the first cap type.
7 . An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
receive, at a processing station, a container, wherein the processing station receives the container along a processing line;
determine, based on a type of the container, a first cap type of a plurality of cap types, wherein each cap type of the plurality of cap types is associated with a corresponding cap size and at least one sensor of a plurality of sensors at the processing line;
based on the first cap type, measure a distance from at least one first sensor of the plurality of sensors to a top of a cap of the container, wherein the at least one first sensor is positioned above the processing line;
determine, based on the type of the container and the corresponding cap size associated with the first cap type, an anticipated distance between the at least one first sensor and the top of the cap;
determine a difference between the anticipated distance and the measured distance; and
provide an alert in response to the difference satisfying a predetermined distance, wherein the alert and the predetermined distance are associated with the first cap type.
8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
identify the type of the container received at the processing station;
identify the first cap type corresponding to the type of the container; and
establish the anticipated distance between the at least one first sensor and the top of the cap based on the type of the container and the first cap type.
9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
determine a second difference between a second anticipated distance and a second measured distance associated with a second container; and
provide an alert of a missing cap in response to the second difference satisfying the predetermined distance.
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to at least one of:
provide an alert of an unseated cap in response to the second difference satisfying a second predetermined distance;
provide an alert of a wrong container type in response to the second difference satisfying a third predetermined distance; or
provide an alert of a wrong cap type in response to the second difference satisfying the third predetermined distance.
11 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the container received at the processing station is received within a container puck, and wherein the container puck comprises a unique identifier.
12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
read the unique identifier of the container puck;
identify, based on the unique identifier of the container puck, the type of the container; and
identify, based on the unique identifier of the container puck, the first cap type.
13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor-executable instructions that cause the apparatus to identify the type of the container and the first cap type further cause the apparatus to determine the type of the container and the first cap type based on an association between: the unique identifier of the container puck, the type of the container, and the first cap type.
14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the apparatus to:
establish, based on the type of the container and the first cap type, the anticipated distance;
associate the unique identifier of the container puck with the type of the container and the first cap type in response to a dispensing operation upstream of the processing station; and
store, in the memory, an association between the unique identifier of the container puck with the type of the container and the first cap type.
15 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising processor-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of at least one computing device, cause the at least one computing device to:
determine, based on a type of a container, a first cap type of a plurality of cap types, wherein each cap type of the plurality of cap types is associated with a corresponding cap size and at least one sensor of a plurality of sensors, and wherein the container is received at a processing station along a processing line comprising the plurality of sensors;
based on the first cap type, measure a distance from at least one first sensor of the plurality of sensors to a top of a cap of the container, wherein the at least one first sensor is positioned above the processing line and is associated with the first cap type;
determine, based on the type of the container and the corresponding cap size associated with the first cap type, an anticipated distance between the at least one first sensor and the top of the cap;
determine a difference between the anticipated distance and the measured distance;
and provide an alert in response to the difference satisfying a predetermined distance, wherein the alert and the predetermined distance are associated with the first cap type.
16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one computing device to:
identify the type of the container received at the processing station;
identify the first cap type corresponding to the type of the container; and
establish the anticipated distance between the at least one first sensor and the top of the cap based on the type of the container and the first cap type.
17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one computing device to:
determine a second difference between a second anticipated distance and a second measured distance associated with a second container; and
provide an alert of a missing cap in response to the second difference satisfying the predetermined distance.
18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one computing device to at least one of:
provide an alert of an unseated cap in response to the second difference satisfying a second predetermined distance;
provide an alert of a wrong container type in response to the second difference satisfying a third predetermined distance; or
provide an alert of a wrong cap type in response to the second difference satisfying the third predetermined distance.
19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the container received at the processing station is received within a container puck, wherein the container puck comprises a unique identifier, and wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one computing device to:
read the unique identifier of the container puck;
identify, based on the unique identifier of the container puck, the type of the container; and
identify, based on the unique identifier of the container puck, the first cap type.
20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 19 , wherein the processor-executable instructions that cause the at least one computing device to identify the type of the container and the first cap type further cause the at least one computing device to determine the type of the container and the first cap type based on an association between: the unique identifier of the container puck, the type of the container, and the first cap type.