Quote:
Originally Posted by SamCyanide
What I would do is have two pads (possibly rubber or something else that can grip plastic well) that are built off of arms with motors on them. This way, you can grab the tote and flip it right side up by using the motors. You could even do this in testing and have it automatically rotate the motors (and as a result the container) only a certain number of degrees.
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We prototyped this, but we decided passive pads on bearings would be simpler. (Our new designs being considered at the moment don't involve this system yet, since we are still speculating if flipping is necessary.)
If you pick up a tote off the ground with the pads within the area that is the bottom half of the tote, whether it is right side up or upside down, it inverts since the point of contact is off center and near bottom, and the object wants to find a point of rest with minimal potential energy. That point of rest is met when the point of contact is now above the middle of the tote. i.e. When the tote flips when held at the bottom, it rotates down so then it is being held at the top half. So this works for flipping totes that are upside down, right side up, and it can also be possible to use it for the containers. The only thing that needs to be powered is the pinching and lifting so the tote or container can get off the ground to swing to its natural position due to gravity and the off center contact points. I recommend playing with that idea.