A humanoid hugging assembly includes a humanoid animatronic that has a torso, a pair of arms and a pair of hands each is disposed on a respective one of the arms. The arms are positionable in a resting position having the arms extending downwardly along the torso and having a palm of each of the hands facing the torso. Each of the arms is positionable in a hugging position has each of the arms is crossed in front of the torso wherein the pair of arms is configured to embrace the user. A motion sensor is integrated into the humanoid animatronic to sense motion of the user approaching the humanoid animatronic. A motion unit is integrated into the humanoid animatronic and the motion unit actuates each of the arms into the hugging position when a predetermined duration of time has passed when motion sensor senses motion.

An apparatus and method for calibrating or teaching a robot, the apparatus includes a reflective photoelectric sensor arranged on a gripper of the robot and a controller. The controller is configured to: cause the reflective photoelectric sensor to scan over a target object; monitor changes in an output signal from the reflective photoelectric sensor; for each detected change exceeding a threshold, determine a coordinate of a gripping component on the gripper in a robot coordinate system, to obtain a set of coordinates; determine a position of the target object in the robot coordinate system based on the set of coordinates and a predefined offset value (PO) between the reflective photoelectric sensor and the gripping component; and store the position of target object for future use in assembling objects.

An autonomously moving robotic device for distributing designated items includes multiple compartments, a release mechanism to release items from the multiple compartments; a memory module containing optical recognition scans and personal information of persons located within a premises, and substantive information of the designated items, optical recognition scanners, a control module in communication with the optical recognition scanners, the memory and the release mechanism. The control unit directs movement of the device, directs the optical recognition scanners to scan persons, and compares images from the optical recognition scanners to optical recognitions in the memory to identify persons. Upon identifying a person, the control unit searches personal information of the person and identifies designated items specified for that person, and then directs the release mechanism to release the designated item.

Devices, systems, and methods for autonomously sorting dirty laundry articles into batched loads for washing are described. For example, an autonomous sorting device includes an enclosed channel including a plurality of sequential work volumes and a stationary floor extending between an inlet end and an outlet end of the channel, a plurality of arms disposed in series along the enclosed channel for rotating, tilting, extending, and retracting a terminal gripper of each arm into an associated work volume for grabbing at least one of a plurality of deformable dirty laundry articles and passing the at least one deformable laundry article to an adjacent work volume for grasping and hoisting by an adjacent arm. The device includes an inlet orifice for receiving the dirty laundry articles into the enclosed channel and an outlet orifice adjacent the outlet end through which each separated deformable article exits the enclosed channel into sorting bins.

A gripper device and method is provided. The method includes capturing, using an electronic device, information of an object that is indicative of holding position; determining, using the information, by a hardware processor, an optimal holding orientation and an optimal movement of at least one of (i) a plurality of fingers, or (ii) a plurality of suction cups of a gripper device; identifying the at least one of (i) the plurality of fingers, and (ii) the plurality of suction cups as one or more grasping components based on the information, the optimal holding orientation and the optimal movement; and enabling, using an actuator, the one or more identified grasping components to grasp the object based on the information, the optimal holding orientation and the optimal movement.

A self-contained truck-mounted brick laying machine can include a frame that can support packs or pallets of bricks placed on a platform. A transfer robot can pick up and move the brick(s). A carousel can be coaxial with a tower. The carousel can transfer the brick(s) via the tower to an articulated and/or telescoping boom. The bricks can be moved along the boom by, e.g., linearly moving shuttles, to reach a brick laying and adhesive applying head. The brick laying and adhesive applying head can mount to an element of the stick, about an axis which is disposed horizontally. The poise of the brick laying and adhesive applying head about the axis can be adjusted and can be set in use so that the base of a clevis of the robotic arm mounts about a horizontal axis, and the tracker component is disposed uppermost on the brick laying and adhesive applying head. The brick laying and adhesive applying head can apply adhesive to the brick and can have a robot that lays the brick. Vision and laser scanning and tracking systems can be provided to allow the measurement of as-built slabs, bricks, the monitoring and adjustment of the process and the monitoring of safety zones. The first, or any course of bricks can have the bricks pre machined by the router module so that the top of the course is level once laid.

A robotic machine assembly includes a movable robotic arm configured to perform an assigned task that involves moving toward, engaging, and manipulating a target object of a vehicle. The assembly also includes a communication circuit configured to receive manipulation parameters for the target object from a remote database. The manipulation parameters are specific to at least one of the vehicle or a vehicle class in which the vehicle belongs. The assembly also includes one or more processors configured to generate a task performance plan for the robotic arm based on the manipulation parameters. The task performance plan includes prescribed forces to be exerted by the robotic arm on the target object to manipulate the target object. The one or more processors also are configured to drive movement of the robotic arm during performance of the assigned task according to the task performance plan.

A robot includes: an arm; a hand including a first finger and a second finger, wherein the first finger includes a first sensor and the second finger includes a second sensor; and a processor configured to: based on sensing an object through the first sensor while the robot is moving to grip the object, activate the second sensor, receive, from the first sensor and the second sensor, distance information including a plurality of pairs of distance values, wherein each respective pair of distance values of the plurality of pairs of distance values includes a first distance between the first sensor and the object and a second distance between the second sensor and the object, and each respective pair of distance values corresponds to a respective position of the hand relative to the object, and control the first finger and the second finger to grip the object based on the distance information.

A method of wood shingle classification and sawing using machine vision comprises the steps of taking an image of a wood slab in a wood block and identifying a defect in that slab; comparing an image of this defect to images of confirmed defects in a database of confirmed defects to find a match of the defect in these images. If a match is not found, sawing a shingle from the slab and classifying the shingle while making abstraction of the defect. In a second aspect, when images of two consecutive shingles are identical, a third and subsequent shingles can be sawn from a block without taking images thereof. In another aspect, the comparing of images is done by an artificial intelligence system that is trained on a database of images that are associable to the subjectivity of experienced shingle sawyers.

An autonomous and self-mobile apparatus for applying a coating to a surface. The self-positioning apparatus can move into an interior or to an exterior of a structure, and can automatically apply a coating, such as paint, to a surface of the room, or a surface of the exterior of the structure, with little or no human intervention or assistance. The apparatus navigates and applies coatings using its sensors and a computer. In some implementations, the system may also include a storage, recharging, and monitoring unit that interconnects with the apparatus for applying a coating to a surface.