Automated Luggage Storage
Manhattan hotel houses robot in glass enclosure to store and retrieve luggage for increased security.An ABB articulated arm industrial robot serves as an automated luggage storage and retrieval system, and has become a unique feature of the Yotel that opened at Times Square West in Manhattan. The brand’s first location outside of its three airport hotels in London and Amsterdam, Yotel is part of “MIMA”, a mixed-use development. The theatrically-lit robot, appropriately named Yobot, is the central feature in the lobby, housed behind a secure glass enclosure where it picks up and stores guests’ luggage in one of 117 lockers. When guests are ready to leave the city they return with their bar-coded receipt for the Yobot to retrieve their bags.
The system is the vision of Yotel CEO Gerard Greene. In addition to the Yobot, other high-tech features of the new Yotel include fully automated guest check-in and check-out at airline style self-service kiosks; and in Dohyo, the hotel’s restaurant, hydraulic tables lower into the floor to create a performance area. With 669 rooms the new Yotel is the largest hotel opening in New York in 2011.
The Yobot system was designed and installed by MFG Automation of Ashford, CT, an established ABB systems integrator primarily serving industrial customers in the food and beverage, plastics, aerospace, and general manufacturing sectors. The Yotel group found MFG through an internet search and after an initial consultation MFG owner John Phelps came back with a RobotStudio animated rendering of the proposed system and a vow that, though it was an unusual application for an industrial robot, he could make it work.
Yobot is an ABB IRB 6640 robot that is typically found in industrial settings performing such tasks as material handling, machine tending, or spot welding. It is mounted on a 5 meter floor track were it moves from the luggage handoff opening to the base of the storage lockers, which are stacked nearly to the limit of the 14 ft ceiling against two walls within the enclosed area. The main wall contains 72 lockers for larger bags, and 15 lockers for smaller bags like laptop cases, purses, etc. A smaller wall positioned 90° to the main wall houses an additional 30 smaller lockers.
The IRB 6640 was selected because its 3-meter reach was necessary to access all 117 lockers from the track, and its 60kg payload capacity would agilely handle the heaviest bags. Guests enter a user name and PIN on an interactive, flat-panel touch screen, and place their bags on a locker insert bin presented by the Yobot via a fork-like attachment at the end of the robot arm. From there the Yobot inserts the bin into a dedicated locker slot and a bar code receipt is issued to the guest for the subsequent bag retrieval. The Yobot can complete a storage or retrieval operation in 30 seconds or less.
According to Phelps one of the biggest challenges to the project was programming the robot within the parameters of the confined storage enclosure. “It was very much like a robot in a bottle,” said Phelps. “In order to reach all lockers the robot had to articulate in a certain manner depending on the locker location, very often with only 1½” clearance to the glass and the surrounding walls. Plus the project evolved over time and the configuration of the lockers was somewhat fluid until near the end.”
The system was also carefully designed so that the input controls provided the necessary security while providing an intuitive interface for the new user who has never experienced such a system. Phelps added, “Another challenge was catering to the ultimate user. The touch screen menu system had to be simple enough for a guest to operate the system quickly and securely without training. We carefully mixed and matched the controls accordingly. It is simple but secure. The bar code receipt and PIN provide far greater security than standard, human operated systems. In the first few weeks we noticed that users frequently check their laptops and other valuable bags they wouldn’t consider leaving in the standard, shared storage closet used by bell captains in most hotels.”
ABB’s RobotStudio simulation and offline programming software was integral to designing the initial system, and redesigning it as the parameters evolved. RobotStudio allows the designer to accurately locate the position of multiple points of the desired robot operation as well as the physical barriers present in the working environment, greatly simplifying the task of configuring and programming complex robotic applications. The result is the ability to create a fully simulated robotic program that can also be downloaded directly to the robotic system on the floor, fully directing the robot what moves to make in all scenarios.
“Yobot provides secure, fully automated luggage storage 24 hours a day in a unique and entertaining way that is consistent with the Yotel experience,” said Yotel spokesperson Jo Berrington. “It adds a fun element to the initial guest experience.”
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Posted by Bruce at 18 Nov 2011 
Categories: Entertainment Engineering
Tags: Automation Luggage Storage Robotics ABB articulated arm industrial robot Yotel Times Square West MIMA Gerard Greene Yobot kiosk Dohyo MFG ABB IRB
Categories: Entertainment Engineering
Tags: Automation Luggage Storage Robotics ABB articulated arm industrial robot Yotel Times Square West MIMA Gerard Greene Yobot kiosk Dohyo MFG ABB IRB
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