Patent ID: 11939081
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 15:
16. An end effector, comprising:
a plurality of roller wheels, wherein the plurality of roller wheels comprises:
a first roller wheel;
a second roller wheel;
a third roller wheel; and
at least one or more additional roller wheels;

a drive system configured to selectively rotate the plurality of roller wheels, wherein the drive system is configured such that each roller wheel of the plurality of roller wheels is selectively reversible between a first direction of rotation and a second, opposite, direction of rotation; and
a support base configured to support the plurality of roller wheels such that the plurality of roller wheels are arranged with respect to one another such that the end effector is configured to automatically capture an object via rotation of the plurality of roller wheels when a passive receptacle of the object contacts the plurality of roller wheels, wherein the end effector is further configured to selectively release the object from the plurality of roller wheels by reversing rotation of the plurality of roller wheels, thereby pushing the passive receptacle away from the end effector, wherein the end effector is configured to automatically retain the object until the end effector is caused to selectively release the object, and wherein at least one roller wheel of the plurality of roller wheels is arranged in a first plane that is non-parallel to a second plane in which at least one other roller wheel of the plurality of roller wheels is arranged.