A robot system includes a detector for detecting the position and posture of a workpiece; a robot for performing a predetermined operation on the workpiece; and a robot control device. The robot control device includes an area divider for dividing an operation area into a plurality of areas; an area determiner for determining in which area the workpiece is present; a learning controller for learning an operation speedup ratio to speed up an operation by varying speed or acceleration on an area-by-area basis in which the workpiece is present; a memory for storing the position of the workpiece and the operation speedup ratio; and a controller that performs the operation on a new workpiece using the learned operation speedup ratio when the operation has been learned in the area having the new workpiece, and makes the learning controller learn the operation speedup ratio when the operation has not been learned.

An article conveying device having a temporary placement section and capable of conveying articles. The article conveying device has: a supplying section configured to sequentially convey or supply plural articles; a discharging section configured to sequentially convey plural containers for containing the articles; a temporary placement section on which at least one article can be temporarily placed; a first detecting section configured to detect a position/posture of the article on the supplying section and successively detect an amount of movement of the supplying section; a second detecting section configured to detect a position/posture of the container on the discharging section and successively detect an amount of movement of the discharging section; a working machine configured to convey the article between the supplying section, the temporary placement section and the discharging section; and a controlling section configured to control the working machine based on a predetermined condition.

A method for optimizing an automated process to select and grip an object by a robot in an arrangement that includes a plurality of robots with regard to a specifiable optimization criterion, wherein the objects to be potentially gripped irregularly occur with respect to their spatial position and a time of their arrival, where detection of objects to be potentially gripped by robots is performed, detection of a priority characteristic as well as an assignment to one of the robots for the objects to be potentially gripped via an automated learning algorithm, taking the optimization criterion into account, and where selection and gripping depending on the assignment and the priority characteristic is implemented.

A robot control apparatus includes a workpiece orientation calculation unit, an arrival prediction unit, a robot orientation calculation unit, and a trajectory data generation unit. The arrival prediction unit obtains a picking prediction position at which a workpiece that is conveyed by a conveyance apparatus may be picked up by a picking apparatus or the like, based on conveyance speed information supplied by the conveyance apparatus or the like and the sensing information supplied by an image acquisition apparatus.

A method for controlling motion of a robot relative to a conveyor flow direction of a moving conveyor includes the steps of: establishing a tracking frame for coordinating a position and movement of the robot relative to an object support surface of the conveyor; setting an upstream boundary perpendicular or skewed to a conveyor flow direction of the conveyor; setting a downstream boundary perpendicular or skewed to the conveyor flow direction; optionally setting a circular boundary partially overlapping the upstream boundary and the downstream boundary, wherein the upstream boundary, the downstream boundary and the circular boundary are positioned to define a picking area relative to the support surface; and operating the robot to pick objects from the picking area.

A production system includes a manufacturing apparatus, a post-processing apparatus, conveyors for transporting workpieces manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus to the post-processing apparatus, an image sensor arranged above a conveyor connected to the manufacturing apparatus to recognize workpieces traveling on the conveyor and measure the workpiece density on the conveyor, a robot that picks each workpiece on the conveyor connected to the manufacturing apparatus, and a controller. The controller performs a first task for identifying each workpiece position on the conveyor using a recognition result from the image sensor and causing the robot to pick a target workpiece, a second task for processing in the manufacturing apparatus, a third task for processing in the post-processing apparatus, and a fourth task for adjusting a processing capability of the manufacturing apparatus and/or the post-processing apparatus using the workpiece density measured by the image sensor.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein for filling orders with used container. A system for filling orders comprises an order database storing a plurality of orders, a used container database storing dimensions of a plurality of used containers, and a control circuit coupled to the order database and the used container database. The control circuit being configured to: determine a container requirement of an order in the order database based on dimensions of products in the order, determine whether an available used container in the used container database meets the container requirement of the order, in an event that an used container meets the container requirement of the order, assign the used container to the order, and in an event that no available used container meets the container requirement of the order, select a new container for the order.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein used container collection. A system for used container intake, comprises a receptacle configured to receive used containers from customers, a sensor system configured to detect dimensions and conditions from containers placed in the receptacle, a used container database, a conveyor system, and a control circuit coupled to the sensor system and the used container database. The control circuit being configured to assign a container identifier to a container detected by the sensor system, measure a container dimension of the container with the sensor system, determine a container condition based on whether the container is suitable for reuse, associate the container dimension with the container identifier in the used container database, and cause the conveyor system to route the container based on the container condition.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are provided herein for reusing containers. A system for container reuse comprises an order database storing a plurality of orders associated with an order fulfillment facility, a conveyor system, and a control circuit. The control circuit being configured to determine container capacity requirements of the plurality of orders in the order database based on dimensions of products in each order, predict container usage for fulfilling orders at the order fulfillment facility based at least on the container capacity requirements of the plurality of orders, determine whether a used container received at the conveyor system should be retained based on a container dimension of the used container and the container usage predicted for the order fulfillment facility, and cause the conveyor system to route the used container to a fulfillment area or a disposal area based on whether the used container should be retained.

A stowage device is equipped with a transport device that transports a plurality of types of objects in a random sequence, and a control device that sets a position of an object inside a containment area. The control device includes a complete pattern selection unit that selects a complete pattern in which an object transported by the transport device can be stowed on the basis of the type of the object and information on an object currently placed in the containment area. The control device includes a position determination unit that determines a position of an object inside the containment area on the basis of the complete pattern.