LOAD TRACKING UTILIZING LOAD IDENTIFYING INDICIA AND SPATIAL DISCRIMINATION
First Claim
1. A method for identifying and locating assets with one or more optical label readers, each label reader being mounted on a corresponding conveying vehicle at a known position and orientation relative to a center and a directional axis of the vehicle, each conveying vehicle having an optical image acquisition system mounted thereon for sensing position and rotational orientation within a facility having an array of position markers, each item having a machine-readable encoded indicia of a predetermined size thereon, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) repeatedly determining the position of the center of the vehicle and the rotational orientation of the directional axis of the vehicle;
b) acquiring images with the one or more label readers as each conveying vehicle moves about the facility;
c) processing each image to determine if that image comprises a label having readable indicia;
d) if the indicia is not readable, repeating steps b) and c);
e) if the indicia is readable;
1) decoding the indicia to identify the asset;
2) determining a center of the indicia on the label; and
3) determining a location of the label center relative to the label reader based upon the position and the size of the indicia within the image;
f) determining the position of the label within the facility using the location of the indicia relative to the label reader, the position and rotational orientation of the label reader relative to the center of the vehicle and the directional axis of the vehicle and the position of the center of the vehicle and directional axis of the vehicle within the facility; and
g) storing the identity and the position of each readable label within the facility in a database, called a Label Map, in a memory in a computer.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for determining the location of one or more unit loads in a coordinate space in a facility, comprising an integrated system that identifies a load by reading indicia on the load, determines the position of the indicia in the coordinate space, and stores the indicia position and load identity in a Label Map. A mobile subsystem on each conveying vehicle identifies the location and orientation of that vehicle using a position/orientation sensor, determines the identity of the load, establishes a Target Cube to discriminate the desired load from nearby loads, confirms acquisition of the load, and communicates the information to a fixed-base subsystem. Load identity and the location and orientation of the vehicle when a load is deposited are used to create a Load Map that contains the identity, position and orientation of all identified loads in the coordinate space.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A method for identifying and locating assets with one or more optical label readers, each label reader being mounted on a corresponding conveying vehicle at a known position and orientation relative to a center and a directional axis of the vehicle, each conveying vehicle having an optical image acquisition system mounted thereon for sensing position and rotational orientation within a facility having an array of position markers, each item having a machine-readable encoded indicia of a predetermined size thereon, the method comprising the steps of:
-
a) repeatedly determining the position of the center of the vehicle and the rotational orientation of the directional axis of the vehicle; b) acquiring images with the one or more label readers as each conveying vehicle moves about the facility; c) processing each image to determine if that image comprises a label having readable indicia; d) if the indicia is not readable, repeating steps b) and c); e) if the indicia is readable; 1) decoding the indicia to identify the asset; 2) determining a center of the indicia on the label; and 3) determining a location of the label center relative to the label reader based upon the position and the size of the indicia within the image; f) determining the position of the label within the facility using the location of the indicia relative to the label reader, the position and rotational orientation of the label reader relative to the center of the vehicle and the directional axis of the vehicle and the position of the center of the vehicle and directional axis of the vehicle within the facility; and g) storing the identity and the position of each readable label within the facility in a database, called a Label Map, in a memory in a computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 18)
-
-
10. A method of creating a Global Label Map database, for identifying and locating assets within a facility having an array of position markers, each item having a machine-readable coded indicia of a predetermined size thereon, in a system having:
-
i) a central system controller comprising a computer having a memory and a wireless communications unit; ii) a mobile subsystem on a conveying vehicle, the subsystem comprising; 1) a mobile computer having a memory; 2) a wireless communications unit for communicating over a wireless network with the central system controller; 3) a position/orientation sensor device mounted on the conveying vehicle at a known position and orientation relative to a center of the vehicle and a directional axis of the vehicle; and 4) one or more label readers each mounted on the conveying vehicle at a known position and orientation relative to a center of the vehicle and a directional axis of the vehicle; the method comprising the steps of; a) repeatedly determining the position of the center of the vehicle and the orientation of the directional axis of the vehicle with the position/orientation sensor device; b) acquiring images with the label readers as the conveying vehicle moves about the facility; c) processing each image to determine if that image contains a label having readable indicia; d) if the indicia is not readable, repeating steps b) and c); e) if the indicia is readable; 1) decoding the indicia to identify the asset; 2) determining the center of the indicia on the label; and 3) determining the location of the label center relative to the label reader based upon the position and the size of the indicia within the image; f) determining the position of the label within the facility using the location of the indicia relative to the label reader and the position of the center of the vehicle and the orientation of the directional axis of the vehicle; and g) storing the identity and the position of each readable label in a database, called a Local Label Map, in the memory in the mobile computer; h) transmitting the identity and the position of each label in the Local Label Map in each mobile computer to the central system controller over the wireless network; i) compiling the identity and the position of each label in all the Local Label Maps from each mobile computer in a database, called a Global Label Map, in the memory of the central computer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method for identifying and locating items with one or more optical label readers, each label reader being mounted on a corresponding conveying vehicle at a known position and orientation relative to a center and a directional axis of the vehicle, each conveying vehicle having an optical image acquisition system mounted thereon for sensing position and rotational orientation within a facility having an array of position markers, each item having a machine-readable encoded indicia of a predetermined size in a predetermined position thereon, the method comprising the steps of:
-
a) identifying each asset in the facility; b) creating a configuration table containing parameters necessary to identify the asset and to locate the asset relative to the conveying vehicle; c) determining the current conveying vehicle position and orientation; d) acquiring images with a label reader on the conveying vehicle; e) determining if each image contains a readable label; f) if the label is not readable, repeating steps d) and e); g) if the label is readable, decoding the identity of the label and calculating the three-dimensional coordinates of the label relative to the conveying vehicle; h) using the current conveying vehicle position and orientation, transforming the coordinates of the label to facility coordinates; i) creating a Label Map database and adding the identity and position of each decoded label to the Label Map; j) if the identified label is already in the Label Map, adding that label position to the Label Map and calculating an average position of that label based upon all stored positions of that label.
-
-
17. A method of tracking the identity and location and rotational orientation of a second load displaced during the deposition of a first load being transported by a conveying vehicle, comprising the steps of:
-
a) identifying a desired storage location for a first load being transported; b) determining that a second load occupies the desired storage location; c) contacting the second load with the first load and determining the location and direction of travel of the conveying vehicle at contact; d) pushing the second load to a displaced location when the first load is being deposited in the desired storage location; e) upon deposition of the first load, when a Load Off event occurs, updating the locations and rotational orientations of the second load and the first load in the Local Label Map and Local Load Map, the distance of displacement of the second load being determined by the size of the first load and the direction of the displacement being determined by the direction of travel of the conveying vehicle at contact.
-
Specification