Automated Bin-Picking and Package Delivery System

"Opportunities exist to use sensor-guided robotic manipulator systems on future surface combatants to automate the process of breaking-out palletized loads into individual packages and items, and to assemble mixed loads of such goods--to order--for deliveryto end-users aboard ship. The system envisioned will be capable of handling provisions, consumables, spare parts and similar commodities originally delivered to the ship and stowed in storerooms on pallets or in containers. It will be designed such thatthe "hand-off" of packages from automation system to sailor assures crew safety and system reliability in high seas, and to be cost-effective. In Phase I, the preliminary design will be developed and its feasibility established through engineering andprocess analyses. In Phase II, an operational prototype of the bin-picking system will be built using commercial manipulators for laboratory tests and demonstrations, and designs for a shipboard model will be developed. In Phase III, a shipboard systemwill be built for tests on a Ship Motion Simulator and, ultimately, for sea trials. This automated bin-picking and package delivery system will be designed to be fully compatible with the NAVSTORS automated stowage and retrieval system and the UniversalLoading Tray. - Reduced crew workload associated with shipboard palletized load break-out, package distribution and inventory control.- Enhanced crew safety during strike-down operations