US Patent 11851311 Autonomous payload handling apparatus

Material handling of packed goods on pallets, roller cages within facilities is in huge volumes and consumes lot of operators' time and efforts. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an autonomous payload handling apparatus (APHA) that addresses the above material handling process by automating with an intelligent modular robotic platform. The APHA includes fork assemblies that slides alongside of the pallet for better balance over payload and maintains smooth navigation. The fork assemblies equipped with contact/vision sensors that enable APHA to determine whether there is any offset or any contact between surfaces of APHA and/or pallet. The fork assemblies capture sensor data of surrounding object(s) during navigation, size of payload, and pallet, etc. The captured sensor data enables the APHA to correct its offset and/or compute a mode of approach (e.g., navigating angle, deviating from obstacle(s), sliding through pallet/roller cages, and the like) to handle payload(s).