SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSPORTING PERSONNEL WITHIN AN ACTIVE WORKSPACE

• US 20150066283A1
• Filed: 09/04/2013
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wurman, Peter R., Barbehenn, Michael T., Verminski, Matthew David, Mountz, Michael Cordell, Hoffman, Andrew Edward, Polic, Dennis, Allard, James Raymond, Nice, Eryk Brian
• Granted Patent: US 9,280,157 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/25
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/00 Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines conveyor combinations in warehouses, magazines or workshops B65G37/00; stacking of articles B65G57/00; removing articles from stacks B65G59/00; loading machines B65G65/02
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2207/40 Safety features of loads, equipment or persons
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0214 in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0225 involving docking at a fixed facility, e.g. base station or loading bay parking aids B62D15/027

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a human transport device and associated system to transport a user within an active workspace. The human transport device may include a platform to support a user, an enclosure coupled to the platform to surround the user, a drive subsystem to power the human transport device, and a control unit to control the movement of the human transport device in coordination with active mobile drive units moving within the workspace. A system implementing one or more human transport devices may include a management module to direct the movement of the one or more human transport devices and designate one or more areas within the workspace as protected areas. Unauthorized objects may be prohibited from entering the protected areas while the human transport device may be allowed within the protected areas.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

under control of one or more computing systems configured with executable instructions,

identifying a destination location within a workspace;

moving a device configured to transport a user therein to the destination location along a route that is planned in relation to known routes of one or more active drive units within the workspace to avoid collisions between the device and the one or more active drive units within the workspace;

designating one or more areas within the workspace as one or more protected areas, at least one protected area of the one or more protected areas including the destination location;

prohibiting unauthorized objects from entering the one or more protected areas; and

allowing the device to be within the one or more protected areas.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising re-defining the at least one protected area as a larger or smaller area around the destination location when the device arrives at the destination location.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the re-defining the at least one protected area is based at least in part on a request from the user to re-define the at least one protected area as a larger area around the destination location.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising, after the device arrives at the destination location:

detecting that the device has moved outside of the at least one protected area; and

at least partly in response to the detecting, re-defining the at least one protected area to encompass an enlarged area within the workspace including the destination location and a current location of the device.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising, after the device arrives at the destination location:

detecting that the user has exited the device; and

at least partly in response to the detecting, instructing active drive units within at least one zone of a plurality of zones within the workspace to cease moving, the at least one zone encompassing a current location of the device.

6. A device to transport a user within a workspace of an inventory-handling system, the device comprising:

a platform to support the user;

an enclosure coupled to the platform to at least partially surround the user when the user is situated within the enclosure and on the platform; and

the device being configured to move along a route that is planned in relation to known routes of one or more active drive units within the workspace of the inventory-handling system to avoid collisions between the device and the one or more active drive units within the workspace.

7. The device as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

a drive subsystem to power the device for movement; and

a control unit to control the movement of the device along the route.

8. The device as recited in claim 7, wherein the drive subsystem is a subcomponent of the device comprising a drive unit configured to dock with the platform and the enclosure, wherein the platform and the enclosure constitute a portable cabin that is detachable from the drive subsystem.

9. The device as recited in claim 8, wherein the portable cabin further comprises a plurality of uprights extending from a bottom side of the platform in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to a plane of the platform, the plurality of uprights to support the portable cabin when disassociated from the drive subsystem and to provide space for the drive unit to dock with the portable cabin from underneath the platform.

10. The device as recited in claim 8, wherein the drive unit is configured to drop off the portable cabin at a destination location and move to a location in proximity to the portable cabin to act as a sentinel for detecting objects that move within a vicinity of the portable cabin, the drive unit further comprising:

a light projector to project a light beam toward a sentinel drive unit that is adjacent to the drive unit to complete a closed barrier of light beams to detect the objects; and

a light sensor to sense a presence or absence of another light beam projected from another sentinel drive unit, wherein the absence of the another light beam indicates that an object that has moved within the vicinity of the portable cabin.

11. The device as recited in claim 6, further comprising a user authentication component to authenticate the user, the device being further configured to determine, based at least in part on authenticating the user, that the user has entered the device before the user is transported to a destination location.

12. The device as recited in claim 6, further comprising an extendable physical barrier to at least partially surround the device when the extendable physical barrier is extended from a collapsed state where the extendable physically barrier is relatively closer to the device to an extended state where the extendable physically barrier is relatively further away from the device such that the extendable physical barrier defines an area around the device when in the extended state.

13. The device as recited in claim 6, further comprising:

a tether to determine whether a distance between the user and the device exceeds a threshold distance; and

a communication interface to transmit a notification when the tether determines that the user is beyond the threshold distance.

14. The device as recited in claim 6, further comprising a transmitter to broadcast a signal designating an area surrounding the device as a protected area that is re-defined as the device moves within the workspace.

15. The device as recited in claim 7, further comprising a drive controller to override the control unit and to direct the drive subsystem according to directional commands received by the drive controller, the directional commands being based on operation of the drive controller by the user.

16. A inventory-handling system to transport a user within a workspace of the inventory-handling system, the inventory-handling system comprising:

a device to transport the user to a destination location within the workspace; and

a management module to direct movement of the device with the user therein to the destination location along a route that is planned in relation to known routes of one or more active drive units within the workspace to avoid collisions between the device and the one or more active drive units within the workspace.

17. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 16, wherein the device further comprises a user identification (ID) component to receive a user ID from the user, the device being further configured to determine, based at least in part on receiving the user ID, that the user has entered the device before transporting the user to the destination location.

18. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 16, wherein the device further comprises an extendable physical barrier to at least partially surround the device when the extendable physical barrier is extended from a collapsed state where the extendable physically barrier is relatively closer to the device to an extended state where the extendable physically barrier is relatively further away from the device such that the extendable physical barrier defines an area around the device when in the extended state.

19. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 16, further comprising a protected area manager to:

designate one or more areas within the workspace as one or more protected areas;

prohibit unauthorized objects from entering the one or more protected areas; and

allow the device to be within the one or more protected areas.

20. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 19, further comprising a plurality of sentinel drive units configured to be positioned at a perimeter of the protected area and to detect unauthorized objects that enter the protected area.

21. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 20, wherein each sentinel drive unit is configured to project a plurality of light beams toward another sentinel drive unit to create a vertical plane comprised of the plurality of light beams to detect the unauthorized objects that enter the protected area.

22. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 19, wherein the destination location is within at least one protected area of the one or more protected areas, and wherein the management module is configured to:

determine whether one or more portable objects are within the at least one protected area; and

direct one or more drive units to clear the one or more portable objects from the at least one protected area before arrival of the device at the destination location.

23. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 16, wherein the device comprises:

a portable cabin to enclose the user during movement of the device; and

a drive unit to lift the portable cabin and power the device for movement.

24. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 16, further comprising a tether to determine whether a distance between the user and the device exceeds a threshold distance, and wherein the management module is configured to receive a notification from the device that the user is beyond the threshold distance and to take remedial action in response to the notification.

25. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 16, wherein the management module is configured to:

receive notification of a user-requested pickup location from a computing device associated with the user, and

instruct the device to move to the pickup location.

26. The inventory-handling system as recited in claim 16, wherein the management module is configured to:

generate a plurality of tasks assignments, each task assignment associated with a respective destination location,

assign to each task assignment one of multiple devices configured to transport users within the workspace; and

prioritize the plurality of task assignments based on criteria.