System and method of asynchronous robotic retrieval and delivery of items

• US 10,549,915 B1
• Filed: 07/13/2018
• Issued: 02/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vecna Robotics, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Vecna Robotics, Inc.
• Inventors: Theobald, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Randazzo, Thomas
• Application Number:
  US16/035,201
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 13/06 Control stands, e.g. consoles, switchboards
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 15/0019 End effectors other than grippers
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 5/007 mounted on wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 9/00 Programme-controlled manipulators
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/44 Industrial trucks or floor conveyors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 53/80 Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/0492 with cars adapted to travel in storage aisles
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/137 with arrangements or automatic control means for selecting which articles are to be removed
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1375 the orders being assembled on a commissioning stacker-crane or truck
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2814/0347 for cars or linked car-trains with individual load-carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/41895 using automatic guided vehicles [AGV] control of position or course of AGV's G05D1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0088 characterized by the autonomous decision making process, e.g. artificial intelligence, predefined behaviours using knowledge based models G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0221 involving a learning process
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0282 generated in a local control room
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

Asynchronous item delivery utilizes a depot and a mobile robot. A method includes (1) receiving a specification by a user of a destination depot and an item, (2) selecting, based on item delivery data and by a depot control system, a drawer from a rack module in a depot that houses drawers, (3) receiving the item from the user via the depot user interface, (4) communicating the item to the drawer within the rack module that houses drawers, communicating, from the depot and to a mobile robot, a message to pick up the item, (5) swapping a first battery on the mobile robot with a second batter charged by the depot, (6) transferring the item from the drawer in the depot to the mobile robot using a depot drawer-swapping module and a mobile robot drawer-swapping module and (7) delivering, by the mobile robot, the item to the destination depot.

Claims

1. An asynchronous item delivery system comprising:

a depot comprising;

a depot user interface;

a rack module that houses drawers;

a depot drawer-swapping module;

a depot battery-swapping module; and

a depot control system that connects to and controls the depot user interface and the rack module, the depot battery-swapping module and the depot drawer-swapping module; and

a mobile robot comprising;

a mobile robot drawer-swapping module; and

a mobile control system that connects and controls the mobile robot drawer-swapping module, wherein the depot and the mobile robot operate in a coordinated manner to asynchronously deliver an item from the depot to a destination depot by performing operations comprising;

receiving, at the depot and via the depot user interface, a specification by a user of the destination depot and the item to yield item delivery data;

selecting, based on item delivery data and the by the depot control system, a drawer from the rack module that houses drawers;

receiving the item from the user via the depot user interface;

transferring the item to the drawer from the rack module that houses drawers;

communicating, from the depot and to the mobile robot, a message to pick up the item;

transferring the item from the drawer to the mobile robot using the depot drawer-swapping module and the mobile robot drawer-swapping module; and

delivering, by the mobile robot, the item to the destination depot.

2. The asynchronous item delivery system of claim 1, wherein the depot scans the item before receiving the item in the drawer.

3. The asynchronous item delivery system of claim 1, further comprising compiling a manifest for each drawer in the rack module that houses the drawers.

4. The asynchronous item delivery system of claim 3, wherein the manifest comprises one or more of an identification of the drawer, items in the drawer, the destination depot, and instructions for delivery of the item.

5. The asynchronous item delivery system of claim 1, wherein after receiving the item in the drawer, routing the drawer to a chosen position in the rack module in preparation for retrieval by the mobile robot.

6. The asynchronous item delivery system of claim 1, wherein delivering, by the mobile robot, the item to the destination depot is performed using machine learning to schedule one of a route, a timing and a pace of delivering the item to the destination depot.

7. The asynchronous item delivery system of claim 1, wherein the mobile robot further comprises a mobile robot battery swapping module, which when instructed by the mobile control system, is configured to swap a first battery on the mobile robot with a second charged battery from the depot when the first battery has a charge level that is less than a threshold.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, at a depot and via a depot user interface, a specification by a user of a destination depot and an item to yield item delivery data;

selecting, based on item delivery data and by a depot control system, a drawer from a rack module in the depot that houses drawers;

receiving the item from the user via the depot user interface;

transferring the item to the drawer within the rack module that houses drawers;

communicating, from the depot and to a mobile robot, a message to pick up the item;

transferring the item from the drawer to the mobile robot using a depot drawer-swapping module and a mobile robot drawer-swapping module; and

delivering, by the mobile robot, the item to the destination depot.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the depot scans the item before receiving the item in the drawer.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising compiling a manifest for each drawer in the rack module that houses the drawers, the manifest comprising one or more of an identification of the drawer, items in the drawer, the destination depot, and instructions for delivery of the item.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, by the mobile robot, that a charge level of a first battery installed in the mobile robot is less than a threshold; and

swapping the first battery with a second charged battery in the depot.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein after receiving the item in the drawer, routing the drawer to a chosen position in the rack module in preparation for retrieval by the mobile robot.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein delivering, by the mobile robot, the item to the destination depot is performed using machine learning to schedule one of a route, a timing and a pace of delivering the item to the destination depot.

14. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage device storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, at a depot and via a depot user interface, a specification by a user of a destination depot and an item to yield item delivery data;

selecting, based on item delivery data and by a depot control system, a drawer from a rack module in the depot that houses drawers;

receiving the item from the user via the depot user interface;

transferring the item to the drawer within the rack module that houses drawers;

communicating, from the depot and to a mobile robot, a message to pick up the item; and

transferring the item from the drawer to the mobile robot using a depot drawer-swapping module and a mobile robot drawer-swapping module, wherein the mobile robot is configured to deliver the item to the destination depot.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the depot scans the item before receiving the item in the drawer.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the computer-readable storage device stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

compiling a manifest for each drawer in the rack module that houses the drawers.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the manifest comprises one or more of an identification of the drawer, items in the drawer, the destination depot, and instructions for delivery of the item.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the computer-readable storage device stores additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

after receiving the item in the drawer, routing the drawer to a chosen position in the rack module in preparation for retrieval by the mobile robot.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein delivering, by the mobile robot, the item to the destination depot is performed using machine learning to schedule one of a route, a timing and a pace of delivering the item to the destination depot.

20. The system of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a message from the mobile robot indicating that a request for battery swap;

instructing a first battery-swapping module of the depot to interact with a second battery-swapping module of the mobile robot to swap a first charged battery available at the depot with a second battery inside the mobile robot having less than a threshold charge remaining.