Equipment for the logistics of slab-shaped articles comprising one supplying plane of at least one slab-shaped article; one robotic gripping group of the slab-shaped article; a (tangible) movement component/unit/device/machine (or the like) of the gripping group along one direction of movement; a plurality of temporary storage stations of the slab-shaped article; one supporting frame of the slab-shaped article supported as an integral part to the movement component/unit/device/machine; and one unloading station of the supporting frame; wherein the gripping group is adapted to: take the slab-shaped article from the supplying plane; place the slab-shaped article on one of the storage stations; and take the slab-shaped article from one of the storage stations to place it on the supporting frame.

Equipment for the logistics of slab-shaped articles comprising one supplying plane of at least one slab-shaped article; one robotic gripping group of the slab-shaped article; a (tangible) movement component/unit/device/machine (or the like) of the gripping group along one direction of movement; a plurality of temporary storage stations of the slab-shaped article; one supporting frame of the slab-shaped article supported as an integral part to the movement component/unit/device/machine; and one unloading station of the supporting frame; wherein the gripping group is adapted to: take the slab-shaped article from the supplying plane; place the slab-shaped article on one of the storage stations; and take the slab-shaped article from one of the storage stations to place it on the supporting frame.

Robotic systems with variable gripping mechanisms, and related systems and methods are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the robotic system includes a robotic arm and an object-gripping assembly coupled to the robotic arm. The object-gripping assembly can include a main body coupled to the robotic arm through an external connector on an upper surface of the main body and a vacuum operated gripping component coupled to a lower surface of the main body. The object-gripping assembly can also include a variable-width gripping component coupled to the main body. The variable-width gripping component is movable between a fully folded state, a plurality of extended states, and a clamping state to grip a variety of target objects of varying shapes, sizes, weights, and orientations.

A computing system including a processing circuit in communication with a robot and a camera having a field of view. The processing circuit obtains image information based on the objects in the field of view and a loading environment, the loading environment which includes loading areas, an object queue, and a buffer zone. The computing system is configured to use the obtained image information in motion planning operations for the retrieval and placement of objects from the object queue into the loading environment. Pallets provided within the loading environment (i.e., within the loading areas) are dedicated to receiving objects having corresponding object type identifiers. The computer system further uses the image information to determine the fill status of pallets existing within the loading environment, and whether new pallets need to be brought into the loading environment and/or swapped out with existing pallets to account for future planning and placement operations.

A computing system including a processing circuit in communication with a robot and a camera having a field of view. The processing circuit obtains image information based on the objects in the field of view and a loading environment, the loading environment which includes loading areas, an object queue, and a buffer zone. The computing system is configured to use the obtained image information in motion planning operations for the retrieval and placement of objects from the object queue into the loading environment. Pallets provided within the loading environment (i.e., within the loading areas) are dedicated to receiving objects having corresponding object type identifiers. The computer system further uses the image information to determine the fill status of pallets existing within the loading environment, and whether new pallets need to be brought into the loading environment and/or swapped out with existing pallets to account for future planning and placement operations.

A plant for forming compound pallet units having a plurality of master pallet units, and an automatic robotic apparatus having a de-stacking robot configured for removing product layers from tops of master pallet units positioned in a de-stacking area and for placing add-on product layers on top of the master pallet unit positioned in a stacking station, so as to form in the stacking station a compound pallet unit having a height greater than a height of the master pallet unit.

A plant for forming compound pallet units having a plurality of master pallet units, and an automatic robotic apparatus having a de-stacking robot configured for removing product layers from tops of master pallet units positioned in a de-stacking area and for placing add-on product layers on top of the master pallet unit positioned in a stacking station, so as to form in the stacking station a compound pallet unit having a height greater than a height of the master pallet unit.

A shipping assistance device which enables a delivery service operator to quickly confirm that the size of an item has been properly measured and there is no need to re-measure the size, and proceed to operations for transportation, comprises a table to place items, upper and side shooting devices for shooting images of an item on the table, a storage chamber for storing items, front-facing and upward-facing displays a printer for printing a shipping label, and a processing controller configured to measure the size of the item on the table based on shot images, determine if the item is acceptable to be put in the storage chamber based on the measured size, display a determination result on the displays, and when the item is determined acceptable, instruct the printer to print a shipping label with an acceptance signature for the item.

A robotic system for arranging packages at a destination according to a stacking sequence. The robotic system uses a storage area for temporarily storing packages that arrive out-of-sequence until they are next-in-sequence for placement at the destination. The robotic system processes an incoming package, determines if it is next-in-sequence for placement at the destination, and if it is, places the package at the destination. On the other hand, if it is not next-in-sequence for placement at the destination, it stores the package in the storage area. A package in the storage area is transferred to the destination when it is next-in-sequence for placement at the destination. By using the temporary storage for storing out of sequence packages, the robotic system eliminates the need for receiving the packages in a stacking sequence, which also eliminates the need for sequencing machines.

An automatic robot control system and methods relating thereto are described. These systems include components such as a touch screen panel (“TSP”) robot controller for controlling a TSP robot, a camera robot controller for controlling a camera robot and an audio robot controller for controlling an audio robot. The TSP robot operates inside a TSP testing subsystem, the camera robot operates inside a camera testing subsystem, and the audio robot operates inside an audio testing subsystem. Inside the audio testing subsystem, an audio signals measurement system, using a bi-directional coupling, controls the operation of the audio robot controller. In this control scheme, a test application controller is designed to control the different types of subsystem robots. Methods relating to TSP, camera, and audio robots, and their controllers, taken individually or in combination, for automatic testing of device functionalities are also described.