SYSTEMS AND METHODS RELATING TO DOCUMENT AND FASTENER IDENTIFICATION

1 .- 20 . (canceled)

21 . A method of document processing, comprising:

activating, in sequence, a plurality of illumination modules of an illumination source to illuminate a document, wherein the plurality of illumination modules are located at different positions relative to the document;

imaging the document each time the document is illuminated by an illumination module of the plurality of illumination modules, to provide a plurality of images;

obtaining a shadow profile of the document based on the plurality of images; and

identifying, with aid of at least one processor, at least one of a boundary of the document and presence of a fastener attached to the document using the shadow profile.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein identifying the boundary of the document comprises identifying an edge having a thickness of less than 0.1 mm.

23 . The method of claim 21 , wherein identifying the presence of the fastener comprises recognizing when the fastener is an inverted fastener.

24 . The method of claim 23 , further comprising, when the fastener is the inverted fastener:

applying a suction force upon a portion of the document using a suction applicator to lift the document from a document pedestal;

positioning a first document platform under the lifted document;

positioning a second document platform over the lifted document to place the document between and in contact with the first document platform and the second document platform; and

rotating the first document platform and the second document platform around a horizontal axis to flip the document over.

25 . The method of claim 21 , wherein removing the identified fastener comprises:

coupling a document transfer end effector to the robot arm;

contacting a top surface of the document with the document transfer end effector coupled to the robot arm to apply a suction force upon the document to lift the document from a document pedestal on which the document is positioned to separate the document from other documents on the document pedestal;

rotating a document pincher of the document transfer end effector to contact a bottom surface of the document to secure the document against the document transfer end effector;

positioning a document platform under the lifted document to maintain separation of the document from the other documents;

releasing the suction force applied upon the document by the document transfer end effector to place the document on the document platform; and

releasing the document transfer end effector from the robot arm and coupling a fastener removal end effector to the robot arm.

26 . The method of claim 25 , further comprising:

contacting a top surface of the document with a document contacting portion of the fastener removal end effector to hold the document against the document platform;

inserting a fastener removal tab of the fastener removal end effector between the fastener and the top surface of the document;

gripping the fastener with a fastener gripper of the fastener removal end effector to position at least a portion of the fastener between the fastener insert tab and the fastener gripper; and

moving the fastener gripper and the fastener removal tab away from the document to remove the fastener.

27 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the document further comprises a staple attached thereto, and wherein identifying the at least one of the boundary of the document and presence of a fastener comprises identifying presence of the staple.

28 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising identifying a corresponding fastener removal end effector for a robot arm based on type information of the fastener attached to the document.

29 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the fastener is selected from the group consisting of: staples, two-prong fasteners, clips, adhesives, metal brads, and punched hole fasteners.

30 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the fastener is moved away from the document in absence of breaking a portion of the fastener.