Autonomous ground vehicles congregating in meeting areas
First Claim
1. A transportation system, comprising:
- a transportation vehicle to transport items from a materials handling facility;
a plurality of autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs), each AGV comprising;
a propulsion portion; and
a storage compartment having a locking mechanism; and
a computing system, comprising;
one or more processors; and
a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least;
determine a meeting area in which the plurality of AGVs will meet the transportation vehicle;
instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to travel to the meeting area ahead of when the transportation vehicle is to arrive in the meeting area, wherein the positions of the AGVs in the meeting area are coordinated so that the AGVs are arranged in a designated order in the meeting area;
instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to receive at least one respective item from the transportation vehicle in the storage compartment of the AGV after the transportation vehicle arrives in the meeting area; and
instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to transport the at least one respective item from the meeting area to a respective delivery location.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Autonomous ground vehicles (“AGVs”) are utilized to transport ordered items and may congregate in meeting areas (e.g., to receive items from common sources, utilize common resources, communicate, etc.) and the positions of the AGVs in an area may be coordinated. For example, AGVs waiting to receive ordered items from a transportation vehicle (e.g., a delivery truck) may be lined up according to delivery addresses, or according to an order of items in the transportation vehicle, etc. As another example, AGVs that are in a pickup area (e.g., where users may retrieve ordered items from the AGVs), may be arranged in a configuration that is relatively compact but which provides easy access for the users to retrieve the ordered items, etc. The AGVs may be repositioned based on various events (e.g., an AGV leaving the configuration, an improved arrangement being dynamically determined, etc.).
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A transportation system, comprising:
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a transportation vehicle to transport items from a materials handling facility; a plurality of autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs), each AGV comprising; a propulsion portion; and a storage compartment having a locking mechanism; and a computing system, comprising; one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least; determine a meeting area in which the plurality of AGVs will meet the transportation vehicle; instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to travel to the meeting area ahead of when the transportation vehicle is to arrive in the meeting area, wherein the positions of the AGVs in the meeting area are coordinated so that the AGVs are arranged in a designated order in the meeting area; instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to receive at least one respective item from the transportation vehicle in the storage compartment of the AGV after the transportation vehicle arrives in the meeting area; and instruct each AGV of the plurality of AGVs to transport the at least one respective item from the meeting area to a respective delivery location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) comprising:
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a propulsion portion; a storage compartment having a locking mechanism; and a control system, comprising; one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing program instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to at least; control the propulsion portion to navigate the AGV along a travel path to a meeting area; determine that one or more other AGVs are already present in the meeting area when the AGV arrives in the meeting area; control the propulsion portion to position the AGV relative to the one or more other AGVs in the meeting area according to a determined arrangement of the AGVs; and
receive into the storage compartment at least one item from a transportation vehicle at the meeting area. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for transporting items, the method comprising:
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determining a meeting area; determining an arrangement of stopping locations in the meeting area, the arrangement of stopping locations including at least a first stopping location and a second stopping location in the meeting area; instructing a first autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) to travel to the first stopping location and to stop in the first stopping location; instructing a second AGV to travel to the second stopping location and to stop in the second stopping location; and instructing a first transfer of a first item from a transportation vehicle into a first storage compartment of the first AGV while the first AGV is at the first stopping location. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification