Throwing Objects -- A bio-inspired Approach for the Transportation of Parts

In this paper a new way of transporting parts in production systems is described. Based on the fact that in nature the highest speeds are reached at flight, a bio-inspired technical approach for the fast transportation of objects is derived. Objects shall be thrown by a throwing device and are caught again by a catching device. Such a transport approach requires besides proper working throwing and catching devices a high precision object detection mechanism. For object detection a 3D Photonic Mixer Device (PMD) sensor is proposed. By assembling of this sensor on the catching device, it can detect the flying objects on their trajectories like a raptor which is hunting a prey. The technical feasibility of this concept is investigated and possible applications are described.