A grasp management system and corresponding methods are described. In some examples, information about a grasp by which an end of arm tool of a robotic manipulator successfully grasped an item is accessed. The grasp may be associated with contact points on the item. Other contact points may be simulated based on the contact points in order to define a set of grasping surfaces that include at least a portion of the other contact points. Information about the grasping surfaces may be accessed to determine a primitive shape that represents a feature of the item. The primitive shape may be used determine other features on the item or other features on other items that may also be graspable by the end of arm tool or other end of arm tools.

A grasp management system and corresponding method are described. In some examples, it is determined whether an end of arm tool of a robotic manipulator is capable of grasping an item in a first orientation and a second orientation. Information regarding success of the attempts may be retained in a database. A richness measure for each of the first orientation and the second orientation may be determined based upon a spatial variation of successful attempted grasps in the respective orientation.

A sortation system is disclosed for providing processing of homogenous and non-homogenous objects in both structured and cluttered environments. The sortation system includes a programmable motion device including an end effector, a perception system for recognizing any of the identity, location, and orientation of an object presented in a plurality of objects, a grasp selection system for selecting a grasp location on the object, the grasp location being chosen to provide a secure grasp of the object by the end effector to permit the object to be moved from the plurality of objects to one of a plurality of destination locations, and a motion planning system for providing a motion path for the transport of the object when grasped by the end effector from the plurality of objects to the one of the plurality of destination locations, wherein the motion path is chosen to provide a path from the plurality of objects to the one of the plurality of destination locations.

A measuring apparatus comprises an image sensor configured to image an object; and a processor configured to obtain information of a position, posture or both thereof of a first object, and a contact between the first object and a second object different from the first object based on an output of the image sensor, and perform evaluation of the information based on the contact.

A picking apparatus includes: a three-dimensional imaging device configured to three-dimensionally-image workpieces contained in bulk in a container; a robot arm having a hand capable of gripping a workpiece; and a control device configured to control an operation of the robot arm; the control device is configured: to recognize a position and a posture of a target workpiece, based on an imaging result of the three-dimensional imaging device; to obtain an gripping position of the workpiece and an approach vector thereof, based on the recognized position and posture information; to calculate an intersection point between a straight line extending along the approach vector through the gripping position and a plane including an opening of the container; and to judge whether the workpiece can be picked or not, based on a positional relationship between the intersection point and the opening.

A robot includes a hand that grips an object and a control unit that operates the hand, the hand includes fingers that are able to grip the object at four or more contact points, and an object of which a metallic tone index is equal to or higher than 5 is gripped with the hand.

A machine learning device that learns an operation of a robot for picking up, by a hand unit, any of a plurality of workpieces placed in a random fashion, including a bulk-loaded state, includes a state variable observation unit that observes a state variable representing a state of the robot, including data output from a three-dimensional measuring device that obtains a three-dimensional map for each workpiece, an operation result obtaining unit that obtains a result of a picking operation of the robot for picking up the workpiece by the hand unit, and a learning unit that learns a manipulated variable including command data for commanding the robot to perform the picking operation of the workpiece, in association with the state variable of the robot and the result of the picking operation, upon receiving output from the state variable observation unit and output from the operation result obtaining unit.

A sortation system is disclosed that includes a programmable motion device including an end effector, a perception system for recognizing any of the identity, location, and orientation of an object presented in a plurality of objects, a grasp selection system for selecting a grasp location on the object, the grasp location being chosen to provide a secure grasp of the object by the end effector to permit the object to be moved from the plurality of objects to one of a plurality of destination locations, and a motion planning system for providing a motion path for the transport of the object when grasped by the end effector from the plurality of objects to the one of the plurality of destination locations, wherein the motion path is chosen to provide a path from the plurality of objects to the one of the plurality of destination locations.