Patent ID: 7551978

Claim:
An item-carrying system comprising: a robot comprising: a gripping portion for gripping an item, wherein the gripping portion is configured to open and close; external force detecting means for detecting an external force applied to the gripping portion; opening-degree detecting means for detecting an opening-degree of the gripping portion; autonomous movement means; and receiving/passing motion deciding means for deciding a motion of the robot in the item receiving/passing operation, the system receiving/passing the item with the gripping portion, wherein the receiving/passing motion deciding means comprises: means for determining to start receiving the item that causes the gripping portion to start a receiving motion if the external force detecting means has detected an external force not less than a first predetermined value, when the gripping portion is not gripping the item; and means for determining the completion of a receiving motion that determines the completion of an item-receiving motion on the basis of at least one of an external force detected by the external force detecting means and an opening-degree detected by the opening-degree detecting means, during the receiving motion.