Singulation of arbitrary mixed items

US11752636B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Dexterity, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Zhouwen Sun · Redwood City, US
• Kevin Jose Chavez · Redwood City, US
• Samir Menon · Palo Alto, US
• Harry Zhe Su · Union City, US
• Talbot Morris-Downing · Redwood City, US
• Rohit Arka Pidaparthi · Mountain View, US
• Ayush Sharma · Singapore, SG
• Raphael Georg Wirth · Breisach am Rhein, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 23, 2020
• Grant date: Sep 12, 2023
• Expiry date: Sep 29, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G05B2219/40195
• WIPO field: Handling
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A robotic singulation system is disclosed. In various embodiments, sensor data including image data associated with a workspace is received. The sensor data is used to generate a three dimensional view of at least a portion of the workspace, the three dimensional view including boundaries of a plurality of items present in the workspace. The three dimensional view as generated at successive points in time is used to model a flow of at least a subset of said plurality of items through at least a portion of the workspace. The model is used to determine and implement a plan to autonomously operate a robotic structure to pick one or more items from the workplace and place each item singly in a corresponding location in a singulation conveyance structure.