AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR TRANSPORTING PAYLOADS
First Claim
1. An automated system, comprising:
- at least one robotic vehicle;
a central control system (CCS) managing operation of the automated system, wherein the CCS controls movement of the at least one robotic vehicle;
a picking workstation to and from which the at least one robotic vehicle delivers and retrieves totes, as directed by the CCS; and
a machine vision subsystem in communication with the CCS, and oriented to view movements of a picker at the picking workstation;
wherein the machine vision subsystem monitors the movements of the picker interacting with totes at the picking workstation; and
wherein the machine vision subsystem communicates the movements of the picker to the CCS, and the CCS directs movement of the at least one robotic vehicle relative to the picker and the picking workstation based on the movements of the picker in such a way that the movements of the picker from interacting with totes result in control of the movement of the at least one robotic vehicle.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automated warehouse storage system including a multilevel storage array is provided. Each aisle has a set of storage levels and each level has storage locations distributed along the aisle. The guideway network extending through the multilevel storage array is configured for autonomous vehicles to move along the guideway network within the multilevel storage array. The guideway network including an inter-aisle guideway spanning at least two of the multiple aisles and a set of guideway levels extending in an aisle of the multiple aisles and disposed so that each guideway level is at a different one of the storage levels and the vehicles on the guideway level can access the storage locations distributed along the aisle. Each set of guideway levels is connected to the inter-aisle guideway forming a common guideway path so that a vehicle can move between inter-aisle guideway and each guideway level along the common guideway path.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An automated system, comprising:
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at least one robotic vehicle; a central control system (CCS) managing operation of the automated system, wherein the CCS controls movement of the at least one robotic vehicle; a picking workstation to and from which the at least one robotic vehicle delivers and retrieves totes, as directed by the CCS; and a machine vision subsystem in communication with the CCS, and oriented to view movements of a picker at the picking workstation; wherein the machine vision subsystem monitors the movements of the picker interacting with totes at the picking workstation; and wherein the machine vision subsystem communicates the movements of the picker to the CCS, and the CCS directs movement of the at least one robotic vehicle relative to the picker and the picking workstation based on the movements of the picker in such a way that the movements of the picker from interacting with totes result in control of the movement of the at least one robotic vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An automated system, comprising:
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a storage array having multiple levels with storage distributed along multiple aisles, wherein each aisle has a set of storage levels and each level has storage locations distributed along the aisle; at least one robotic vehicle configured to travel bi-directionally, and turn, enabling the at least one robotic vehicle to travel along the at least one inter-aisle floor and vertically from level to level of the multiple levels via a vertical transition; a central control system (CCS) managing operation of the automated system, wherein the CCS controls movement of the at least one robotic vehicle; a picking workstation to and from which the at least one robotic vehicle delivers and retrieves totes, as directed by the CCS; a machine vision subsystem in communication with a workstation control system (WCS) and comprising a camera mounted at the picking workstation, the camera configured, positioned, and oriented to view movements of a picker at the picking workstation; wherein the machine vision subsystem monitors movements of the picker interacting with totes at the picking workstation; and wherein the machine vision subsystem communicates movements of the picker to the WCS, which communicates with the CCS, and the CCS directs movement of the at least one robotic vehicle relative to the picker and the picking workstation based on the movements of the picker in such a way that the movements of the picker from interacting with totes result in control of the movement of the at least one robotic vehicle.
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25. An automated system method of operation, the method comprising:
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a central control system (CCS) managing operation of the automated system, wherein the CCS controls movement of at least one robotic vehicle; a machine vision subsystem, oriented to view movements of a picker at the picking workstation, monitoring movements of a picker interacting with totes at a picking workstation; the machine vision subsystem communicating the movements of the picker to the WCS; and the WCS communicating the CCS, and the CCS directing movement of the at least one robotic vehicle relative to the picker and the picking workstation, the step of directing being based on the movements of the picker in such a way that the movements of the picker from interacting with totes result in control of the movement of the at least one robotic vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification