WO2023057808A1

WO2023057808A1 - A material stacking machine and a method to operate the same

Info

Publication number: WO2023057808A1
Application number: PCT/IB2021/061122
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anant Kumar Shukla
Original assignee: General Systems Sg Pte Ltd
Priority date: 2021-10-07
Filing date: 2021-11-30
Publication date: 2023-04-13

Abstract

A material stacking machine and a method to operate a material stacking machine are provided. The method includes picking material from a material storage unit by a material picking unit. The method also includes receiving the material from the material picking unit and supply received material to a destination point. The method also includes tracking a trajectory of the destination point using swarm technology. The method also includes sensing one or more parameters at the destination point. The method also includes detecting a relative position of the material storage unit with respect to the destination point. The method also includes generating one or more commands to move the material stacking machine to achieve proper stacking of the material at the destination point based on detected information, wherein the detected information comprises at least one of the trajectory, one or more parameters, relative position, or a combination thereof.

Description

A MATERIAL STACKING MACHINE AND A METHOD TO OPERATE THE SAME

EARLIEST PRIORITY DATE:

This Application claims priority from a patent application filed in India having Patent Application No. 202121045721, fded on October 07, 2021 and titled “A MATERIAL STACKING MACHINE AND A METHOD TO OPERATE THE SAME”

FIELD OF INVENTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to material stacking for construction, and more particularly, to a material stacking machine and a method to operate the same.

BACKGROUND

Globally, Construction is one of the biggest industries and most important to support the population explosion. It is also the least automated with dull, dirty, and dangerous environment which makes it amongst the least productive industry. To boost the quality, safety and productivity in construction, from past decade robotics and automation is being explored and experimented. Various robots like masonry robots, wall rendering (plastering, painting, putty), floor screeding had been implemented. These machines are always mobile so stacking/feeding materials to them have been a challenge. Because for every time to stack and feed the robots/machine need to stop/halt and then manually they are stacked or feed, which downgrades their productivity. In a conventional construction process, the material used for construction is usually manually stacked from one location to another. Along with that, while manual feeding/stacking bending and lifting construction material led to musculoskeletal injuries and soft tissue injuries. Present industrial systems like conveyors, manipulators, collaborative cranes are not useful in stacking/feeding of these materials because the construction robots are mobile. Hence, there is a need for an improved material stacking machine and a method to operate the same to address the aforementioned issues.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a material stacking machine is provided. The machine includes a material picking unit comprising a robotic subunit, wherein the robotic subunit is configured to pick the corresponding material from a material storage unit, characterized in that. Wherein the material picking unit comprises a platform operatively coupled to the robotic subunit via one or more supporting frame elements. The machine also includes a material supply unit operatively coupled to the material picking unit and configured to receive the material from the material picking unit and supply received material to a destination point. The machine also includes a trajectory tracking unit operatively coupled to the material supply unit and configured to track a trajectory of the destination point using swarm technology. The machine also includes a sensor unit comprising a plurality of sensors and configured to sense one or more parameters at the destination point. The machine also includes a laser scanning unit operatively coupled to the material storage unit and configured to detect a relative position of the material storage unit with respect to the destination point. The machine also includes a control module operable by one or more processors, wherein the control module is operatively coupled to the sensor unit, wherein the control module is configured to generate one or more commands to move the material stacking machine to achieve proper stacking of the material at the destination point based on detected information, wherein the detected information comprises at least one of the trajectory, one or more parameters, relative position, or a combination thereof.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method to operate a material stacking machine is provided. The method includes picking material from a material storage unit by a material picking unit. The method also includes receiving the material from the material picking unit and supply received material to a destination point. The method also includes tracking a trajectory of the destination point using swarm technology. The method also includes sensing one or more parameters at the destination point. The method also includes detecting a relative position of the material storage unit with respect to the destination point. The method also includes generating one or more commands to move the material stacking machine to achieve proper stacking of the material at the destination point based on detected information, wherein the detected information comprises at least one of the trajectory, one or more parameters, relative position, or a combination thereof.

To further clarify the advantages and features of the present disclosure, a more particular description of the disclosure will follow by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended figures. It is to be appreciated that these figures depict only typical embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting in scope. The disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the appended figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an isometric view of a material stacking machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of a top view of the material stacking machine of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of a side view of the material stacking machine of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart representing steps involved in a method to operate a material stacking machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the figures by conventional symbols, and the figures may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the figures with details that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the figures and specific language will be used to describe them. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as would normally occur to those skilled in the art are to be construed as being within the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.

The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such a process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures or components preceded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices, sub-systems, elements, structures, components, additional devices, additional sub-systems, additional elements, additional structures or additional components. Appearances of the phrase "in an embodiment", "in another embodiment" and similar language throughout this specification may, but not necessarily do, all refer to the same embodiment.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are only illustrative and not intended to be limiting.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a material stacking machine and a method to operate the same. In one embodiment, the material may include at least one of a brick, a block, one or more construction elements or a combination thereof used in construction location or construction site.

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an isometric view of a material stacking machine (10) in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The machine (10) includes a material picking unit (20) including a robotic subunit (30). The robotic subunit (30) is configured to pick the corresponding material (40) from a material storage unit (50). In one embodiment, the robotic subunit (30) may be a robotic arm which may be configured to pick the material from one location to another.

The material storage unit (50) includes a platform (60) operatively coupled to the robotic subunit (30) via one or more supporting frame elements (70). In one embodiment, the platform may be configured to store one or more pallets of bricks or blocks or any other construction material. In operation, the material from a pre-defined location is picked up by the robotic subunit (30) and is stored on the platform for further transportation.

The machine (10) also includes a material supply unit (80) operatively coupled to the material storage unit (50). The material supply unit (80) is configured to receive the material (40) from the material storage unit (50) and supply received material to a destination point (90). In one embodiment, the material supply unit (80) may be a conveyor unit which may be operatively coupled between the material storage unit (50) and the destination point (90). In one exemplary embodiment, the destination point (90) or a destination unit may be a robotic unit which may be configured to perform a particular task in the process of construction.

In operation, the robotic subunit (30) may pick the material from the platform and may place the same on the material supply unit (80) or the conveyor unit. In one specific embodiment, the conveyor unit may be inclined in upward direction or a downward direction. The materials are placed on the conveyor unit to enable transportation of the material from the platform to any of the destination location or the destination unit.

Furthermore, the machine (10) includes a trajectory tracking unit (100) operatively coupled to the material supply unit (80). The trajectory tracking unit (100) is configured to track a trajectory of the destination point (90) using swarm technology. As used herein, the term ‘swarm technology’ or swarm intelligence is defined as is the collective behavior of decentralized, self-organized systems, natural or artificial. Also, the term ‘trajectory’ is defined as a path followed by a projectile flying or an object moving under the action of given forces. In operation, upon using the swarm technology, the path between the platform (60) and the destination unit (90) may be calculated.

The machine (10) also includes a sensor unit (110) including a plurality of sensors. The sensor unit (110) is configured to sense one or more parameters at the destination point (90). In one embodiment, the one or more sensors may include at least one of a laser sensor, one or more inertial sensors, one or more switches, or a combination thereof which may be configured to sense the corresponding one or more parameters.

Furthermore, the machine (10) includes a laser scanning unit (120) operatively coupled to the material storage unit (50). The laser scanning unit (120) is configured to detect a relative position of the material storage unit (50) with respect to the destination point (90). More specifically, laser beam is projected from the laser scanning unit (120) and reflections are received back by the module. Based on the received reflection, the relative position may be calculated.

In one scenario, if the relative position may not match with a pre-defined set of data, an instruction may be passed by one or more processors (140) to one of the material storage unit (50) or the destination point (90). Based on the received instructions, one of the material storage unit (50) or the destination point (90) may align automatically to reach the pre-defined relative position. In such embodiment, the alignment may happen in at least one of vertical direction, a horizontal direction, or a combination thereof. In one exemplary embodiment, the machine (10) may further include an input receiving module operable by the one or more processors (140). The input receiving module is configured to receive one or more instructions from one or more sources via a communication medium. In one embodiment, the input may be received from one or more sources which may include an internal source, which may be inbuilt within the machine (10), one or more external sources via which the input may be transmitted through a communication medium. In such embodiment, the communication medium may be a wireless communication medium such as a Wi-Fi medium.

The machine (10) further includes a control module (130) operable by the one or more processors (140). The control module (130) is operatively coupled to the sensor unit (110). The control module (130) is configured to generate one or more commands to move the material stacking machine (10) to achieve proper stacking of the material (40) at the destination point (90) based on detected information. The detected information comprises at least one of the trajectory, one or more parameters, relative position, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, the movement may happen in at least one of vertical direction, a horizontal direction, or a combination thereof.

In operation, the material (40) from a location is picked up and is placed on the material storage unit (50). Further, the material storage unit (50) and the destination point (90) may be operatively coupled via material supply unit (80). Consequently, the one or more sensors, trajectory tracking unit (100) and the laser scanning unit (120) may sense one or more parameters, trajectory of the destination point (90), relative position of the material storage unit (50) with respect to the destination point (90) may be computed respectively. When all the elements are aligned to the pre-defined form, the material (40) from the material storage unit (50) is picked up by the robotic subunit (30) and is placed on the material supply unit (80) to transport and stack the material (40) at the required destination unit (90).

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of a top view of the material stacking machine (10) of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The figure shows how the material (40) is stored on the platform (60), and how the same is supplied to the destination unit (90) via the material supply unit (80). The figure also depicts the laser light being projected by the laser scanning unit (120) to detect the relative position of the material storage unit (50) with respect to the destination point (90).

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of a side view of the material stacking machine (10) of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The figure depicts an upward inclined conveyor unit which corresponds to the material supply unit (80). The material from the platform (60) is moved vertically upward via the material supply unit (80) to stack the same in the destination unit (90). The figure also shows how the robotic subunit (30) picks and places the material either on the platform (60) from the location, or on the material supply unit (80) upon picking the material from the platform (60).

FIG. 4 is a flow chart representing steps involved in a method (150) to operate a material stacking machine in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method (150) includes picking material from a material storage unit by a material picking unit in step 160. In one embodiment, picking the material from the material storage unit may include picking at least one of a brick, a block, one or more construction elements or a combination thereof from the material storage unit.

The method (150) also includes receiving the material from the material picking unit and supply received material to a destination point in step 170. The method (150) also includes tracking a trajectory of the destination point using swarm technology in step 180.

Furthermore, the method ( 150) includes sensing one or more parameters at the destination point in step 190. The method (150) also incudes detecting a relative position of the material storage unit with respect to the destination point in step 200. The method (150) also includes generating one or more commands to move the material stacking machine to achieve proper stacking of the material at the destination point based on detected information, wherein the detected information comprises at least one of the trajectory, one or more parameters, relative position, or a combination thereof in step 210. In one specific embodiment, the method (150) may further include receiving one or more instructions from one or more sources via a communication medium.

It should be noted that the elements of FIG. 1, 2 and 3 are substantially similar to the elements of FIG. 4. Henceforth, the embodiments of FIG. 1, 2 and 3 holds good for FIG.

4.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure enable system to stack the materials used in the construction automatically without the intervention of any humans, thereby making the system or the machine more reliable, faster and more productive, thereby being more efficient. In addition, laying speed of the blocks by the system is 100+ blocks/hour, which means that 100+ blocks that weight 10-20 kg, 1000-2000 kg of block are to be fed per hour. In addition, the machine reduces the labor-intensive process and over time duties of the workers.

While specific language has been used to describe the disclosure, any limitations arising on account of the same are not intended. As would be apparent to a person skilled in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein.

The figures and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. For example, the order of processes described herein may be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein. Moreover, the actions of any flow diagram need not be implemented in the order shown; nor do all of the acts need to be necessarily performed. Also, those acts that are not dependent on other acts may be performed in parallel with the other acts. The scope of embodiments is by no means limited by these specific examples.

Claims

/ WE CLAIM:

1. A material stacking machine (10) comprising: a material picking unit (20) comprising a robotic subunit (30), wherein the robotic subunit (30) is configured to pick the corresponding material (40) from a material storage unit (50), characterized in that, wherein the material storage unit (50) comprises a platform (60) operatively coupled to the robotic subunit (30) via one or more supporting frame elements (70); a material supply unit (80) operatively coupled to the material storage unit (50), and configured to receive the material (40) from the material storage unit (50) and supply received material to a destination point (90); a trajectory tracking unit (100) operatively coupled to the material supply unit (80), and configured to track a trajectory of the destination point (90) using swarm technology; a sensor unit (110) comprising a plurality of sensors, and configured to sense one or more parameters at the destination point (90); a laser scanning unit (120) operatively coupled to the material storage unit (50), and configured to detect a relative position of the material storage unit (50) with respect to the destination point (90); and a control module (130) operable by one or more processors (140), wherein the control module (130) is operatively coupled to the sensor unit (110), wherein the control module (130) is configured to generate one or more commands to move the material stacking machine (10) to achieve proper stacking of the material at the destination point (90) based on detected information, wherein the detected information comprises at least one of the trajectory, one or more parameters, relative position, or a combination thereof.

2. The material stacking machine (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material comprises at least one of a brick, a block, one or more construction elements or a combination thereof.

3. The material stacking machine (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein material supply unit (80) comprises a conveyor unit operatively coupled between the material storage unit (50) and the destination point (90).

4. The material stacking machine (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises at least one of a laser sensor, one or more inertial sensors, one or more switches, or a combination thereof.

5. The material stacking machine ( 10) as claimed in claim 1 , comprising an input receiving module operable by the one or more processors (140), and configured to receive one or more instructions from one or more sources via a communication medium.

6. A method (150) to operate a material stacking machine comprising picking material from a material storage unit by a material picking unit; (160) receiving, by a material supply unit, the material from the material picking unit and supply received material to a destination point; (170) tracking, by a trajectory tracking unit, a trajectory of the destination point using swarm technology; (180) sensing, by one or more sensors, one or more parameters at the destination point; (190) detecting, by a laser scanning unit, a relative position of the material storage unit with respect to the destination point; and (200) generating, by a control module, one or more commands to move the material stacking machine to achieve proper stacking of the material at the destination point based on detected information, wherein the detected information comprises at least one of the trajectory, one or more parameters, relative position, or a combination thereof. (210)

7. The method (150) as claimed in claim 6, wherein picking the material from the material storage unit comprises picking at least one of a brick, a block, one or more construction elements or a combination thereof from the material storage unit.

8. The method (150) as claimed in claim 6, comprising receiving, by an input receiving module, one or more instructions from one or more sources via a communication medium.