In-process calibration system for robot moving in one or more axes
View Patent ↗The invention is an in-process calibration system. It is not an open loop system or a closed loop system, but a hybrid system that retains both the low propensity for error of the closed loop system and the simplicity of the open loop system. The invention comprises a housing, one or more robots that move in up to three axes mounted to the housing, at least one sensor for each axis of the robots' movement, and a microcontroller. The sensors are fixed to the housing at known locations, and the microcontroller instructs end effectors of the robots through a sequence of moves that intermittently trigger the sensors. When the sensors are triggered, the microcontroller corrects the idealized location of the end effectors in the microcontroller's calculations to the actual location of the end effectors, which is, at the moment that the sensors are triggered, the known location of the sensors.
1. An in-process calibration system comprising:
a housing comprising one or more walls;
one or more robots movably mounted to the housing, each robot moving in up to three axes and comprising one or more end effectors, wherein the one or more robots are H-bots;
at least one sensor for each of the up to three axes of the one or more robots' movement, each sensor fixed to the housing at a known location in an axis perpendicular to the axis of the one or more robots' movement;
a microcontroller that instructs the one or more end effectors in a sequence of moves to one or more idealized locations within the housing, whereby the one or more end effectors intermittently trigger the sensors,
and the microcontroller in communication with the sensors such that when the one or more end effectors trigger the sensors, the microcontroller corrects the idealized location of the one or more end effectors to the known location of the sensors.
2. The in-process calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the sensors comprise photoelectric sensors.
3. The in-process calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the sensors comprise laser transmitters and receivers.
4. The in-process calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the sensors comprise magnetic field sensors or switches.
5. The in-process calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more robots are move in three axes.
6. The in-process calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the in-process calibration system is a component of an automated storage and retrieval system.
7. The in-process calibration system of claim 6 , wherein the automated storage and retrieval system comprises one or more positionable objects that are repositioned within the automated storage and retrieval system by means of the one or more robots.
8. The in-process calibration system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more positionable objects are one or more appliances.
9. The in-process calibration system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more positionable objects are storage bins.
10. The in-process calibration system of claim 6 , wherein the automated storage and retrieval system is a non-revolving automated storage and retrieval system.
11. The in-process calibration system of claim 6 , wherein the automated storage and retrieval system comprises electrically conductive wall hooks.
12. The in-process calibration system of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface.
13. The in-process calibration system of claim 12 , the user interface comprising a voice control user interface.
14. The in-process calibration system of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of moves is part of performing a separate high-level commands.
15. The in process calibration system of claim 14 , wherein the high-level command is one of lifting, suspending and repositioning an object within the housing.