AUTOMATIC BOOK-COLLECTION CIRCULATION SYSTEM FOR LIBRARY, BOOK-COLLECTION CIRCULATION ROBOT FOR LIBRARY, AND HAND MECHANISM FOR BOOK-COLLECTION CIRCULATION ROBOT FOR LIBRARY

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To streamline and reduce the book-collection circulation services of the staff of a library by using an automatic book-collection circulation system incorporating a robot for identifying and picking up desirable books one by one from book-collection on a bookstack and returning returned stock one by one to its original bookstack. SOLUTION: The self-propelled robot carries, on its carriage, a hand mechanism for gripping collected books one by one out of a bookstack and returning it to the bookstack, a controller for three-dimensional movement control over the hand mechanism relative to the bookstack, and a computer for acquiring identification information on the book-collection and on divided book-collection storage shelves and controlling the movements of the carriage and hand mechanism. The self-propelled robot is circulated between an open-stack area and the book-collection circulation counter side, and the collected book book- collection picking and returning operation of the robot is controlled from the book-collection circulation counter side.